Ersatz
by MoveMove
Summary: Eusstass Kidd, a nortorious murderer- and he is dying in a cold raining street of London, the year is 1852. An odd travelling doctor decides to revive him back to life, not fully aware of the consequences... AU/Slash/KxL
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: **It is rated at M for other reasons beside sex. This contains yaoi slash, and other things which people might find uncomfortable.  
><strong>Pairing: <strong>Base pairing is KiddxLaw(sub pairings are later revealed)

Hope you enjoy thank you for reading :)

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><p>Eusstass Kidd was dying.<p>

He knew he was bleeding- it didn't take a genius to realize that he was in fact, on the verge of death. The pale man stared at the tattered pieces of newspaper lying around the floor, soggy and lifeless. His eyes looked glumly at the date the paper was printed with- September 1852. _Nearly ten years have passed._

_Well, this is great. _The man muttered under his cold dying breath, _just fantastic. _He sighed, pushing his head against the wall to forcefully stare at the gloomy sky of the London city. The ground felt softer than before, but then that was only because it was raining- Kidd chuckled at the heartless weather, feeling the drops of rapid water wash over his tired, bleeding body. His breathing became distorted; pain that surged up his abdomen was now taking control of his mind, crying out in mental screams. It was too dark to make out which puddle underneath him that was starting to soak up his ragged black coat was rain or blood, it definitely reeked of blood.

The church bells were ringing. Eusstass Kidd did not know how much more of this ridiculous sentimentality he could take. He was dying. Dying against the wall of a rundown barber shop of a dark corner of the dirty London alleyways, bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound that punctured cleanly through his guts, hands chained together listening to the church bells ringing while being rained on.

And yet his eyes glared, although dull at the first glance, his deep red iris blazed with an unexplained passion against the gloomy fog. He couldn't die now, not when he was so painfully close. Kidd couldn't care less about the fact that he was now throwing up huge chunks of tainted black blood, the pale man desperately clung to the side of the walls with his torn up fingertips, forcefully trying to stand up again.

Then he stopped- his over sensitive hearing was picking up unfamiliar sounds. Rhythm of footsteps. Kidd cocked an eyebrow, shaking his head. His vision was fluttering with haziness again, consequence of losing too much blood. The sound was growing steadily closer, Kidd narrowed his pupils, wiping away a trickle of blood that dropped below his eyes and clearing his sight through the sheet of darkness that surrounded his environment.

It couldn't be a peeler, neither a guard- he made sure that he was not followed. Breaking out of prison was the easy part, although he did get shot- but the lucky bastard who hit him practically rolled over and pretended he was dead right after his shooting just to avoid Kidd glaring back at him with a nasty evil grin. Eusstass couldn't remember much about his rather epic prison break, the last of memories ended with him jumping off from a cliff.

Kidd assumed it was probably someone quite insignificant, at least to him everyone was insignificant. There was a chance that it might be a possible body snatcher approaching, or a potential thug; considering the time and place, the only people Kidd imagined passing through such way was people who lived on a thin line outside the law. He didn't mind thugs, they would probably leave him alone after seeing that he had nothing of value to take, but it would get troublesome if the body snatchers came after his corpse. Kidd personally liked where his internal organs were, and held no desire to part with them- this thought prevented him from losing consciousness.

After failing to summon up any more strength to his weakening body, Kidd miserably flopped his body against the walls again and stared at the approaching figure, blanketed by the thick London fog. Everything slowed down as the pale man took in the impending presence; out of the layer of rain and fog there stood a man.

Kidd could tell it was a man although his face was half shaded by an umbrella, he was wearing dark black suit trousers- most of which was covered by the long coat draped over his body, trimmed on the outside with black fur. The man was slender, the hand that showed to be holding the handle of the umbrella had long, thin fingers that seemed to be marked by forms of tattoos. It spelled a familiar word, but Kidd was quickly succumbing to the cold numbness of the rain and that made it hard for him to care.

The stranger stopped walking after taking a few steps closer to Eusstass Kidd, twirling his umbrella between his fingers rather childishly. Kidd did not look up; he didn't have the energy to do so. Whoever it was, the pale man hoped that the other would quickly fuck off after seeing that he was rather ironically- frighteningly corpse like.

"Good afternoon." The stranger stated more than asked, his voice dripping with suave politeness. Something about his voice assured Kidd that the man was smiling, and instead of a voiced answer, Eusstass made a growling noise in his throat, annoyed by the fact that the new comer was trying to engage in a conversation with him- a dying body in the middle of a dirty street. However, the man with the umbrella did not wait for his answer.

"Horrible weather I must say." The man continued to muse in an almost sing-song voice, weirdly soothing Kidd- it was like listening to a lullaby. "Terrible to get around you know."

The flame haired man was only listening half heartedly, too distracted from concentrating on the unexpectedly talkative stranger who kept babbling away about the weather while gently getting low and dragging Kidd away from the wall. Before Kidd could react with his usual violence to anybody who dared come near within his reaching range, The stranger grabbed the other's shoulders and pulled him up, allowing the bleeding male to slouch against the thin frame of his own body. Eusstass Kidd was too tired to lash out- his eyes were closing on his own accord now.

Kidd realized that the others voice sounded exactly like the rain- rhythmical, steady. He could hear the other's heart beating- the smell of sugary mint tickled the tip of his nose as the words that were speaking to him slowly drained out from his consciousness; soon Kidd was surrounded by complete darkness, yet he did not feel as vulnerable as he did just seconds ago.

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><p>The clerk wasn't very happy with the trail of blood left smeared all over his inn. He cringed, but stuck to his innocent service smile, careful not to lose a valuable customer. The clerk recognized the dark haired man, his tired eyes half closed under heavy eyelids.<p>

A pair of steel grey eyes made a modest curve as he smiled softly, staggering under the weight of a huge, rain soaked male caked with blood and dirt. The clerk might've actually offered to help carry the burden if only his lips would stop trembling from the scent of blood; it was giving him nausea.

"Doctor Trafalgar..." the clerk started, trying not to stare at the bleeding heap slouched against the said man's body.

"Don't worry." The doctor answers, kicking his umbrella carelessly to the side with his heeled boots. "I'll make sure he doesn't die in your inn. Can you pass me my keys? I'm checking in." Law looks expectantly along the check in book. Since he lacked a pen, he instead dipped his thumb in the puddle of blood underneath him and stamped it onto the pages, much to the clerk's horror.

Trafalgar dumped the body onto his bed, and sighed as he observed the clean sheets slowly getting infected by a mixed color of dirty brown and bloody red. The young surgeon liked a cozy atmosphere, but rather detested anything that went beyond his hygiene limit. He dropped onto the floor out of exhaustion, his head spinning and fingers trembling. It wasn't the cold, he was just tired.

Drake always used to complain about Law falling asleep during his lessons when they were children, no matter how long Trafalgar slept- he always seemed to be equal and most times even superior in skills with his other trainees, probably a partial contributing reason why he didn't have many friends. Nevertheless it made him an outstanding prize among his tutors, and officially became the youngest licensed doctor ever to graduate the royal academy of medicine. Medical prodigy- they called him.

Unfortunately his work as a doctor seemed to always pile up, with London infested with fake doctors and rather dangerous surgeons, it virtually spelled all work and no play. He went through at least three operations every day, taking up most of his fourteen hours; then he always had to move to wherever his clients needed him, be that it may France, Spain or any other part of Europe. This usually left him with very dark rings under his eyes, in which Drake would comment how much he looked like the people painted on his masters twisted collection of oddities.

While wondering where Drake went after stating his determination to go into service in the navy (the irony was that he couldn't swim), Law took off his coat and left it soaking the wooden floor; he shuffled back onto his feet and made shaky steps into the bathroom to pick up a towel and fill a clean basin with water. Warm water was preferable, but seeing as the figure in his rented bed was dying immediately, the doctor hastened with his procedures.

Law made a curious glance at the striped garment the paler man was wearing as he stripped him of his dirty ragged coat; he recognized it as something associated with the shipped prisoners who arrived in England not too long ago. It raised quite a commotion in the newspapers, the citizens disapproved with the parliament's decision to accept such dangerous criminals into the country. Trafalgar sniffed for a few seconds, briefly wandering if he should tie him up first; he silently dragged his heavy bag of medical equipment and set to work.

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><p>The short old lady who cleaned the rooms was warned by the clerk about the room in the far left corridor and had no idea what the clerk was trying to warn her about. As far as she knew, the tenant in that room was quite a pleasant young man who was a skilled doctor, carrying an official license which was good enough for her. He had good manners, he certainly had a pleasant face to look at(<em>"You do look very tired though, dear."), <em>so she definitely wasn't expecting a bed covered in dripping puddles of blood, a floor equally covered in a river of red with scattered scalpels and prongs caked with thick crusted bits of flesh.

Unfortunately unlike the young doctor who was used to the smell and sight of blood, the old lady was not, and to top it off, she had a weak heart. She gave a compressed squeaking noise in her throat, her eyes nearly popping out as her grip on the broomstick tightened strong enough for her knuckles to turn white. Just about three seconds away from her falling backwards onto the floor, Law staggered quickly in front of her and dragged her out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Wonderful morning ma'am, fluffy clouds, and refreshing rain" The young doctor starts, wiping his red soaked fingers on the side of his black button up vest. "I'm sorry for soaking the sheets." He murmurs, careful not to finish the sentence with 'blood'. Much to shock, the lady does not respond for about a good few seconds until she finally nodded meekly, trying to force a smile upon her chalk white face.

"Did someone... I mean... you know dear..." She mutters suspiciously, giving Law a look that made him scratch his cheeks with a blank expression.

"No. He's alive." The answer calms the lady down, blood returns to her face. "I'll clean out the mess before I leave."

The lady protests about giving him the job of cleaning, but Trafalgar insists. It was partly his fault for dragging a corpse into his room and reviving it back to health. He felt a little like Frankenstein to tell the honest truth, no man could've actually survived that night with losing that much blood with such a weakened and damaged body. Two ribs were broken, a wound of gunshot that nearly punctured his intestines by mere inches, knife wound around his thighs. Three fingers quite distorted on his left hand, a dislocated wrist with half the bones on both of his arms either broken or disjointed. That was only the physical problems that Law managed to do something in hopes that his body would heal properly, what concerned him was the internal damages. Malnutrition was one thing; the pale man seemed to be suffering from another disease which Law couldn't quite figure out what yet.

After the old lady decided to stalk back down to the kitchen to fetch a very exhausted looking doctor some tea and breakfast, Law went back into his room and sighed at the mess. No wander she was shocked, all the blood and gore was enough to make anyone feel more than intimidated and sick. He glanced at the unconscious figure lying on the sofa, wrapped in fresh bandages. Since the more comfortable option of a mahogany bed was occupied with heavy pools of blood, he moved his patient to the sofa where he was quietly resting without even a single stir.

To be honest, Law had no hopes for the man to actually live, but something about the flame haired man prevented him from losing that tiny thought of "what if". Humming a children's song softly between his lips, the dark haired male started with cleaning the scene of gore- starting with ripping the blood soaked sheets off the bed.

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><p>In his dreams, Eusstass Kidd was always standing in the middle of nowhere. Staring at nothing. Talking to no one, and hearing no voice. Just a big dark void. Then hands crawl up from the darkness, grabbing at his body, wrapping their grotesque distorted arms around his neck and face, suffocating him, killing him slowly, eventually making him merge with darkness- he becomes nothing.<p>

A part of the void.

Kidd woke up, his dark red iris flashing with alarm from his dream. He confuses reality sometimes, and was slowly starting to get annoyed with unhelpful dreams of his doom. _Really now, _he used to mutter to himself- _you'll need to try harder to make me feel guilty for what the lives I took. _It was aimed at particularly no one, but still Kidd felt satisfaction with the silent answer that came from nobody.

The first thing that caught his attention when he woke up was the sickeningly annoying scent of barley sugar and mint tea. The pale man scrunched his face in both pain and irritation, as soon as his body realized he was awake, the first thing his brain sent was the immense amount of agonizing pain that seemed to burn up his entire body. Kidd could not move freely though, most of his body was stiff and constricted with bandages that skillfully covered up his wounds and stuck his disjointed arms together where they should be.

He was certainly confused, confused of where he was, and why he was bandaged up. The last of his memories were fuzzy, his thoughts were uncoordinated and jumbled up into little jigsaw puzzles that just refused to come together. Heavy blankets were set upon his body, which slid off when he tried to move his limbs. Kidd froze when he realized he wasn't alone, at first sight of a thin male leaning with his back against the legs of the sofa, Eusstass charged without thinking- unstable and deadly instincts screaming in his head to attack first and think later.

Law gave a sharp yelp as a powerful arm shot through the air and made a grab at his throat, immediately the fingers wrapped around his neck and the doctor found himself struggling while staring at a pair of gleaming rich red irises that glared intensely at his own grey ones. Trafalgar did not move, neither did he thrash or start screaming for help.

Instead, he muttered softly- "You're awake."

Eusstass Kidd responded with a sharp kick that landed squarely onto Law's stomach, and the doctor who firstly haven't slept properly for a week, and secondly who was exhausted enough already did not take it very well. Law felt his sight spin in front of him as pain flushed up his guts, making him squirm on the floor clutching at his hips. _Way to go, dignity. _He muttered sarcastically at himself, discouraging what was left of his self-esteem. He flicked a quick glance towards his black leather bag that was lying around the corner.

Trafalgar coughed, wheezing due to his lack of breath. Kidd wasn't feeling very sympathetic, his twisted grin painted graphically on his face. The pale hand grabbed a fistful of the other man's short dark hair, who responded with a gasp and a moment of unpleasant surprise flash in his eyes before Kidd immediately rammed Law's head against the floor. The sickening crunch bounced off the walls, and the dark haired doctor felt his face burn- he realized his nose and lips were now smeared with his own blood.

Still dazed from the attack, Law gave a snarl and threw his weight backwards onto Kidd, who did not expect such a quick counter and staggered, finally losing his balance and rolling onto the floor. Trafalgar did not wait for him to recover; he dashed across the room and made a grab for his bag, reaching into the deep corner into one of the pockets. His hand re-emerged from the bag second later, thin fingers wrapped around the handle of a polished pistol, gleaming with an ebony glint.

With the end of the pistol aimed straight into his forehead, Kidd stopped in his mid-attempt to stand back up again, and leered at the doctor- face smeared with blood, but expression surprisingly peaceful; Trafalgar Law was smiling.

"That was unpleasantly painful." _There, that voice again. _Kidd felt his brain sting as he recognized that rhythmical voice that sounded so in tune with everything- he wanted to crush it into silence so badly without even himself knowing why. The paler man hissed his annoyance, wanting nothing more than to wipe that smile off the placid face of the other, who was silently rubbing away most of his blood off his face with the back of his hands.

"Feeling brave now with a gun in your hand?" Kidd sneered. Something about the grey eyed man pissed him off- the very presence of him was fucking with his mind.

"Well, I'd rather avoid shooting. I saved your life you see. It'd be a bit ironic if I patched your gun wound up only to drive another bullet in the legs." Law whispered in a clear voice, tapping his nose softly to make sure it wasn't broken. Kidd cocked an eyebrow, and the doctor chuckled, oddly sounding like a giggle. "I don't want to kill you. Hurt you if I must, but not kill."

The redhead snarls, eyes moving more clearly onto the stranger that was pointing a gun at him. He was that man with the umbrella, although his coat was gone- instead he was wearing a loose collar shirt with a black vest wrapping his torso, complimenting his slender body frame rather nicely. His face was more visible now in the light than what he first saw when he was dying in the streets of London, Kidd observed as the unwavering pair of steel grey eyes, clouded with something unreadable. He showed no sign of pain, fear, anger or even a slightest bit of irritation. His confidence was god damn frustrating. Eusstass was impressed (in a rather negative way), he licked his lips dangerously.

"On second thought," the paler man croaks, his eyes distorted with a half-crazed glint- "I'll crush your pretty face first. I feel like hearing you scream now."

"May I ask why you feel so aggressive towards me? Considering the fact that I saved your sorry ass from becoming a pile of cold meat on the streets." Trafalgar's voice did not sound offensive, neither did he sound angry. Kidd was briefly reminded of an image where a little girl with a deceptive smile was asking for a candy. Deceptive yes, that concealing smiles on the doctors lips. It agitated the red haired man.

"Why then, did you save me?" Kidd spat, anger rising up his chest._ "_Did I fucking ask you to? Did your pitiful mind assume that if you saved my life, I would be all heads over heels with it and sparkle my eyes at you, singing your name in gratitude? Or did I look that pathetic, that **weak** to receive your sympathy?" His last sentence was near a hiss, emphasizing the word 'weak' as if the very mention of it disgusted him. Kidd glared, annoyed by the fact that Law still refused to change his expression. "You make me sick." Eusstass finished, his nails driving themselves deeper into his clenched fists.

"Unfortunately, no. I did not expect you to live." The doctor did not drop his guns, neither his gaze- but relaxed if only for a moment. Both men were studying each other intensely, wandering what their next moves were going to be. "I neither gave you sympathy, nor did I think for a moment that you will be grateful since I had absolutely no hope of your survival, and was rather aiming to dissect you if you did not make it. And yet here you are, alive and well enough to bash my head against the floor. Mind you, it hurt. Frankly I am quite impressed with your ability to heal so quickly from all the damage you had, and amazed that you can move so freely in your condition." Kidd felt his eyes twitch, a ringing desire to harm the other surging up his veins. Those colorless murky grey eyes showed no panic, no alarm as he continued casually. "I must say, you blew my mind- coming to the conclusion that I think you are a very strong and a capable individual."

A tense silence washed over the room. A lot of things were going on in Kidd's mind, most of them jumbled up with strange collections of images and voices; particles of his memories. The tips of his lips began to tremble; his mind was exploding with both twisted rage and deathly calm. The doctor in front of him was hard to read, like a book with no writing and only pictures in them- at first glance they seem very simple and straightforward, but the more you read it, the more complex it gets with hidden symbols and messages between the images.

And that was driving Kidd mad.

Unstable emotions wash over the pale redhead, and out of impulse he rushes forward. Taken by complete surprise, Law automatically pulls the trigger- and misses. The paler male has extraordinary reflexes, almost to the state of being inhuman. Kidd stretches his disturbing grin as gunpowder smoke is wafted by his movement, before Law can aim again; he stretches out and grabs the doctor's collar, tackling him down against the floor. Trafalgar realized with a pint of sadness that perhaps he should've listened to his inner voice insisting that he kept the chains where they were.

The cold floor once again puts much stress and shock into his spine, Law struggles to pull free of Kidd's hard grip. Their faces meet, eyes leering one another. Eusstass had a heavy advantage, seeing as he had a better physique and was on top of the other's body, he easily subdued Law's movements by pinning the others wrists above his head with one hand and roughly pulled the black hair back, forcing the leaner male to look up at him.

"You have a sweet tongue, doctor." Kidd growled, in which the said doctor answered with a sweet tone of voice; "Honesty does work magic. You should try it."

"I'd prefer to stick with my way." Red eyes glow, his dark smirk close to his victims face. "You know. Violence."

Kidd raises a pale finger, his black nails raised like talons. He drives his finger down the corner of Trafalgar's torn lips, hard and unforgiving. His nails dig deeper into the already bruised corners of the doctor's lips, drawing a sharp, attractive hiss. A deep purr rings down Kidd's throat, sadistic pleasure heating his cold body. Blood seeps through the wound, and a smirk creeps up the paler face. Trafalgar gives a shaky grin, "I am inclined to tell you that I am not enjoying your treatment." he mutters, deepening Kidd's grim smile.

"You're weird." The redhead whispers, nibbling on the doctor's ears. Law winces, but still manages to keep a straight enough face to reply; _Normal than you._

"I find you quite stimulating though. You're attractive." He purrs, pale hands slithering down into a curve on Law's hips, "Attractive enough to make me want to rip you into little tiny pieces. Maybe I'll keep a few parts in memory of this moment."

Trafalgar Law refuses to respond for a few seconds, but soon his face beams at Kidd as if he has just given him a compliment. Law just holds his smile, until he smoothly whispers to the other with a curious look in his eyes; "This isn't the first time you've committed a murder."

"Surprised?"

"No, mildly entertained. Intrigued- somewhat."

"And you'd assume that I'd feel good about entertaining you?"

Law gives off a dry laugh while Kidd's own smile falls a little, his eyes looking down at the thinner man.

"Seeing as that I have no means to fight back, and I'm lacking the power and resource anyway, I am at your mercy. That puts me in quite a miserable position you see, and I'm not used to asking people to have mercy on me."

"That's the beauty of killing." answers Kidd, his lips close against the others own. "You can do whatever you want to them before they end up becoming a pile of dead flesh. You can hear them cry, beg, scream..." Trafalgar is forced to allow the other man to softly lick at the corner of his lips, the wound that split against the harsh earlier touch from the pale white hands. The soft tongue that slides over the bloodied mouth suddenly bites down at the other's lips without warning, forcing Law to open his mouth in an alarmed gasp. Kidd pushes in; filling his thirst on the pitiful squirms the other gave to protest against his violent kiss. When he finally breaks apart to allow the other to breathe, he could feel the blood pumping in his ears.

"You have a disturbed mind." the hoarse response was from Law, who was breathing in sharp intervals, trying to ignore the intruding pain in his lips. Kidd ignored the insightful comment, stripping away half of the shirt none too gently, until the soft caramel flesh was exposed to the candle lit air.

"You know doctor; sex isn't usually in my step to murder." The wide smirk that appeared on the pale face was the face of someone which made others run away as fast as they could in fear for their lives. "But I'll make an exception for you. I'm going to thoroughly savor this moment where you scream and writhe beneath me."

"Honored for the exception, but not needed really. May I refuse?"

"Keep that up, I like it. Your annoying voice excites me."

The moment is wrapped with bitter lust; even Eusstass himself couldn't make out why he was trying so hard. The ends of his fingers trembled with excitement, the anticipation of covering the other with his own color, the deep red, blood- it made his spine electrify with pure exhilaration.

Then something interfered. A vine of unpleasantness, a familiar hand with a grotesque shadow over its fingers shot out to constrict his mind. Kidd stopped, his breathing jagged and face shaking, the stinging pain that overtook his mind and heart, burning his throat. It made tears well up under his eyes; his breath became hot, body paralyzed as something he suppressed under his throat exploded in the form of the familiar tainted pitch black blood.

Without thinking, Law delivered a sharp knee into Kidd's stomach; the grip on his wrists loosened enough for the nimble doctor to scuffle away from the redhead who was throwing up chunks of nasty looking blood. Kidd recoiled with the pain from both the kick and the uncontrollable pain inside his chest, he rolled onto the floor and breathed sharply, his vision was going white.

Trafalgar retrieved his gun smoothly, but felt no need to aim it front of him seeing as the paler man was suffering already from something he was expecting. The doctor studied the other for a brief seconds before he dashed across the room and grabbed his bag, turning it upside down onto the floor for the contents to spill onto the surface. Several equipment rolled out first being the heaviest, then vials and powder scattered along. Herbs and lidded glass bottles rolled out with several other remedies, the doctor ran his slender fingers along the contents with considerable skill and haste. Recognizing a bottle labeled 'H-E09', Law snatched up the bottle and rushed over back to Kidd, who was gripping his heart as if trying to rip it off his chest to ease the pain.

The doctor kneels down and pulls the paler male up to his chest, cradling the upper body and uncorking the bottle in his hand. The liquid inside the bottle swishes softly, the color was a disturbing shade of magenta and cyan. Without hesitation Law half forces Kidd to take the liquid down his throat, aware that the taste of the liquid was probably giving added discomfort. Eusstass Kidd unintentionally attempted to spit out what was being sent down his throat, but Law stubbornly held it in place until all of the liquid went down.

Until the very last drop.


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: **It is rated at M for other reasons beside sex. This contains yaoi slash, and other things which people might find uncomfortable.  
><strong>Pairing: <strong>Base pairing is KiddxLaw(sub pairings are later revealed)  
><strong>Late disclaimer: <strong>I do not own one piece.

Hope you enjoy thank you for reading :)

* * *

><p><em>Dear Trafalgar,<em>

_For the love of sweet Jesus Trafalgar, kindly please stop perfuming the letter that you send to me. I know you're doing it to screw with my patience, and frankly I have enough trouble with managing my men on deck across the coast who, even without your contribution are assuming that I'm having a secret love affair behind their backs already. _

_Speaking of which, I finally deciphered the stupid note you sent me two months ago saying that it was crucial information which turned out to be the address of a brothel. Thank you very much asshole, with your help, I am going to have an infinite number of roadblocks between me and becoming an admiral._

_Now that all mentioned and hoping that you get the angry tone in my writing, I have the things that you requested ready and packed and leaving for Hampshire from Edinburgh tomorrow. The Scottish lady wasn't very happy mind you; if it wasn't for your master's influence I would've had quite a lot of trouble receiving it. I won't ask what you are planning to do with these, but I advise you not to use it in anything that goes against the natural order, I trust your profession although sometimes I do wander very seriously how a complete psycho like you became a doctor. I assume that the package will arrive in Cambridge in about three weeks depending on how much you manage to bribe the mail service with._

_I am leaving for Spain in two days, so unfortunately I might not be in Cambridge when you come around for a visit, so do not bother with planning how to make me look like a sodomite this time. Although I will pass on the message that Jewelry Bonnie has invited you around for tea when you pass by the city. I hope you receive good luck on your travels, may fortunes smile on you Trafalgar Law._

_Your friend,_

_X Drake._

Trafalgar frowned slightly, the letter fluttering gently between his fingers as he finished reading it. Tapping his fingers on his crossed thighs, he felt a mischievous smile appear on his bruised lips. Without much effort Law picked up a quill and started scribbling down in his careless handwriting, starting with a 'Dear Drake' on the first paragraph.

Letter writing wasn't one of his greatest of hobbies, but causing Drake to suffer was incredibly satisfying in his mundane life. Law usually kept his letters short and sweet, whilst Drake preferred to stick to formalities. Habits don't change even if you become an adult.

His hand stopped scribbling when he heard rough shuffling noises behind him; Law slowly turned his head around and glanced around the fireplace, the figure who was now sitting up and staring at the ground had a nasty scowl on his face.

Reflected against the sepia fire, the pale man seemed eerie and out of place. His eccentric red hair glowed rich scarlet along with his duller shade of irises, his muscular build gave him an oddly distinguishable posture of strength. When he was not grinning in that madman way and eyes not glaring at him, Law reckoned that the man had a face worthy of praise, it might've been his momentary imagination but for a dangerous criminal, the man had a slight air of nobility around him.

Kidd looked up, and then sideways. A cozy room, scattered with vials, bottles- a desk on the side mounded with paper and the windows all covered by think beige curtains, preventing any sunlight from directly coming into the room.

He blinked a few times at the chains that bound his hands again, and stared at it with dislike.

"I'd rather you not pounce on me again like you did yesterday." _yesterday. _The doctor's sentence made Kidd realize that he was passed out for a day. The red haired man stared curiously at the doctor, trying to remember what question he was supposed to ask first, until he finally settled with the shortest; "Are you an imbecile, or one of those people who feel superiority by performing what they think is kindness to other people?"

"You sound as if you have not tasted any form of kindness." The doctor's retort makes Kidd give out a dry snigger, _Kindness is an illusion. _

"Tell me doctor, how is it possible that you were able to cure it?" Genuine curiosity covered up the bitterness behind the criminal's tone, making Law shrug with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"It isn't cured. The disease you have, it's rare enough to be unnamed. The most complex of it's kind, and I'd prefer not to hear how you ended up with it." It certainly was a nasty piece of virus; it doesn't kill its unfortunate victim immediately, but drags on for years, sometimes causing the affected to crack up and end up killing themselves just to be free of it. They were like a parasite that feeds off its host's pain.

"Modern medicine is not known to have a complete cure for that disease."

Eusstass Kidd blinked. The pain in his chest was gone, his head clearer. Usually when the fits start, he passes out for a few days, and his head and body weaker with every passing time. For the first time in years he felt rejuvenated, the jagged pieces of his memories coming together much more clearly than they usually do- sometimes he even forgot about who he was after vomiting out half of his blood to the earth. The only reason he was able to stay alive so long was because of his inhuman ability to recover so quickly.

"Then how did you do it?" The question asks again, leaving Law with that mysterious smile that unnerved Kidd still.

"My master was... special, in ways. He's a collector of a sort you see, collects things that people find disturbing, odd. This also means he collects books. Lot's of books. Some of them were about medical practices which I found absolutely fascinating," The doctor's voice suddenly dropped, as if wandering if he should really continue. It was like telling another an important secret.

"Mister Murderer. Let us just say that... there are some medical practices in this world which fundamentals are too twisted to reveal. But the fruits of their experiments manages to reap ways of creating very rare concoctions of various tonics and cures; in this case- yours."

It was like listening to a quiz for Kidd. He sniffed, his impulsive disorder was settling down now that his mind was calmer than when it was affected by that tormenting illness. Still that didn't stop him feeling agitated by the doctor's presence. The taste of his blood and warm lips still lingered in his mind, his eyes stayed a little longer than necessary at the slender tanned neck.

"So I'm confused. You say there is no cure, then you read it off a book." the hinted sarcasm in Kidd's comment allowed Law to make a soft disapproving click in his tongue.

"The cure is not written. The medicine I gave you was my own creation, merely improvised from the information that I read from that book years ago. While tending to your dozen broken bones, I realized that you had that strange disease lingering with you. Since this medicine expires in a few hours after it's made, just to be sure I had created the medicine each morning."

An awkward silence again took over the room, in which both men wordlessly stared at each other for a few uncomfortable minutes until Kidd finally opened his mouth again in a visible sneer.

"Are you always this kind and caring? Keep it up, and I might just throw up, doctor." He spat the word doctor- the said doctor just smiled.

"Trust me; it wasn't the kindness from the bottom of my heart that saved your life. You tried to kill me twice, including a mild attempted rape. So far, I see no valid reason for me to care for you."

"So, what now? Going to turn me over to the authorities?"

Law did not give an immediate answer; instead he reached for the plate of buttered crackers in front of him and walked up to Kidd, kneeling down to eye level and munched on a cracker. The doctor studied the others eyes for moment, hiding a laugh.

What would Drake say if he told the marine that he just twice saved the life of a dangerous murderer who attempted to rip him apart?

"My name," the doctor starts, a cracker playing between his fingers "is Trafalgar Law. Glad to make your acquaintance."

The red haired man rolls his eyes, a mildly exasperated sigh escaping his lips.

"You should introduce yourself now." Law finished, and left Eusstass briefly wandering if the doctor actually has another facial expression other than smiling. The only time he hasn't seen the other not smiling was when he was feeling pain, and Kidd had that sudden urge to cause pain in order to see his expression change.

"Does it actually matter to you?"

"Well yes, seeing as how we are going to be spending a lot of time around each other now. I can't continue calling you Mister Murderer, unless you'd prefer me referring to you with a series of 'hey', 'you', and 'redhead'." Law mused in his perfectly timed sing-song voice, making Kidd assume his vacant expression before the words sank in. The doctor had an exceptional ability to piss him downright off by just existing.

"I'll make it clearer for you. I'm not going to report you or anything, but I'm certainly not planning to let you loose either. I want you to assist me in my travels."

During his life, Eusstass Kidd heard many things that sounded like a series of barking dogs in his ears. By far, that was best bullshit that he has heard in many years. He clearly wanted to make a point that what the man who introduced himself as Trafalgar Law was saying was utter nonsense_, _and did not hesitate to show it in his face.

"If you were being serious, then you're more of a fool than what I expected." Kidd spat.

"I was. You're a welcome addition, considering you can fight and carry things around more efficiently than I can. Of course, what I am really after is the disease you carry." His logical attempt to explain his reason behind the sudden proposition darkened Kidd's face, who replied with two simple words put together- "Fuck you."

"You wish." Law answered casually in return, still munching on his cracker. "As I have already told you, I did not expect for you to live. The reason I helped you was not because I was a compassionate doctor, to me, you are a valuable research material that can provide me with results. Your rare disease fascinates me- the endless possibilities that can come from studying you, I can practically wet myself with ecstasy at the thought."

"I'd rather have you wet with something else preferably you know." Kidd gave a nasty smirk. "You have a disturbed mind, Trafalgar Law."

"And so do you." Law answered, offering Kidd a cracker which he refused.

"What makes you possibly think that I will actually agree to become your lap dog? Even if I did, don't you think it would be rather easy for me to betray you the second later?"

The doctor looked as if he was already expecting that question, which was why he didn't hesitate a moment to think before he opened his mouth to answer nice and clear;

"You have no other choice."

"Try me."

"Well, the crucial part is this; the medicine that I designed for your disease only cures you for a certain period of time, which is exactly 28 hours." Eusstass Kidd flinched faintly at the doctor's words, casting a dark look against the steel grey iris. "In this whole wide world, the reality is that I am the only person capable of creating this medicine of yours. This logically means that if you wish to live, it means you need me."

Kidd couldn't shake off the weird feeling that felt like he was just sentenced to death.

"Besides, I can provide you with easy food and bed."

A victorious smile from reasoning appeared into the doctor's face again, his lips nibbling the corners of the buttered cracker. With soft munching noises audible painfully clear, Kidd felt his mind go blank.

The red haired murderer met many people in his life. Most of whom he ended up driving a knife down their throats, gutting each and last one of them into a pile of entrails and bloodied flesh. He carried sins bigger than what anyone can imagine, his conscience slipping between sanity and insanity with every minute passing. And now in front of him, there was a person like no other, someone who he could not kill, who dared to say that he needed him in order to live. It did not help the fact that Kidd couldn't die yet.

Oh the complications.

How he wished he could just drive his nails down the others throat and be done with it.

Eusstass Kidd hated to admit this- and he would've sacrificed anything to deny the one true fact – he needed the doctor.

"Eusstass Kidd."

The pale man croaked, biting back anything else that tried to follow his answer. "That's my name."

Biting down on the last cracker, Law gave a soft grin.  
>"We are going to get along just fine."<p>

* * *

><p><em>Dear Drake,<em>

_The clouds are fluffy grey, the rain is refreshing, the wind is howling, it is a perfect day to sprinkle some purple Rosalie._

The ginger haired marine face palmed. Drake rubbed the envelope against Bepo, who excitedly started barking; it recognized his master's scent. After the heavy scents of roses were considerably weaker due to the dog odor, Drake continued to read down the letter, chewing the end of his pipe while Bepo desperately tried to jump onto his chair to lick the envelope.

_Drake, Drake. How gullible are you? If I was really trying to sabotage your courier, trust me you'd be having a lot more problem trying to forgive me. Like I always used to say my friend, the marines don't suit your style. The day you become an admiral will be the day I become a university professor. _

"No Trafalgar. The day you become a university professor is the day I become a general." Drake muttered under his breath, sounding a lot more skeptical then he intended to. A part of him was usually relieved that his childhood friend was still quite the same after all these years, while the other part of him was mildly annoyed that Trafalgar Law still failed to see the world in a more serious point of view. It always seemed to be games for the doctor.

_On a more serious note, thank you for the items. I have in need of them quite desperately now, and would appreciate your help if you could get another shipment by the end of next month. Up until now it was just a part of my research, but now I actually have a patient which needs it. Surprise isn't it? _

_By the way, I nearly got murdered twice in the past two weeks. You were this close to losing your best buddy. Thank your lucky stars, Drake. Oh, and tell Bonnie I would love to visit her if she'd just stop trying to feed me until my guts explode, I am worried that her eating habits will put off her suitors in the future. _

_You are taking a good care of my Bepo right? Hope you are well, be safe and healthy- I have no plans to weep if you are injured. _

_Hearts and crosses,_

_Trafalgar Law._

So typical of him, Drake rolled his eyes and gave up the envelope to Bepo who started whining in the corner. It didn't surprise him that Trafalgar Law nearly died twice in a row; the doctor usually had a lot of enemies- most who were made during his academic years.

Now that Drake thought about it, Law wasn't keen on making any friends as far as he was concerned. The doctor seemed afraid of the idea of having connections with other people, including his own patients. Besides, no matter how hard the world tried, it just could not get rid of Trafalgar Law. His life was more elastic than rubber strings attached to a ladies bloomer.

The ginger haired vice admiral was busy looking out the window of his hotel for a brief seconds, sipping his rather weird tasting Latin coffee, the women of Madrid offered some odd tasting beverages. He was interrupted by the sound of his hotel room's opening; Drake wandered if it was the chambermaid and cleared the room divider, only to find Penguin struggling with a tower of boxes.

"Need help?" Drake offered, to which Penguin refused politely with quick shakes of his head- his felt hat slightly tipping down in a diagonal line as he did so. Bepo barked again in a friendly way, nuzzling Penguin's legs who had to be extra careful now not to trod on the huge Samoyed's fluffy white tail.

"The post office will definitely not allow these to pass through, so I'm taking them with me back to England. Hopefully I'll be able to drop them in Hampshire before my doctor leaves for Cambridge." Penguin muttered half to himself, laying the boxes down onto a nearby table. He fiddled with the lids on some of the boxes, a frown slightly covering the visible half of his chin and mouth. As usual Drake noted the affectionate way Penguin referred to Trafalgar- '_my doctor'. _

Hard to say where that loyalty came from, but even though Law stopped tutoring the young man, Penguin still looked up to him.

"Any idea why he would need these for?" asked Drake, and Penguin shrugged.

"He said it was for his patient didn't he?"

"That was only three days ago, which he barely mentioned in his letter."

"I wouldn't worry too much Sir Drake, he is a doctor. He would have good reasons." Penguin closed the matter, his voice too thick with trust for Drake to interfere. Of course, it did not mean that Drake did not trust Law's intentions, but rather curious as to as why he was suddenly requesting abnormal materials.

He remembered the last time when they were children where Trafalgar asked Drake to acquire tobacco for him, it didn't end very well. Apparently he was trying to experiment on making relax pills, and the poor butler suffered from hallucinations for a month before he recovered again, with an eternal fear of tobacco. Both of them were punished severely for that little incident.

"That's last of it. Anything you want me to deliver on the way?"

Penguin finished packing the last bits of the boxes, roping them together to make sure he does not forget which box was which. Drake blinked for a few moments, as if to remember something- when he finally did, he pulled out a rather thick volume of a book from his charter table.

The book had a soft rich purple velvet cover, but no title and neither caption on the front. Penguin gave a quizzical stare at the elegant looking book; the rim was decorated with gold linings. The youth with the hat cautiously opened the book to a random page, and recognized that the writing was in complete Spanish. Since Penguin knew he sucked at Spanish, he did not care to read what it was about, and flipped the pages to the front cover- which the title looked vaguely familiar.

"You read classic stories?" the youth asked to Drake, who once again replied with a short shrug of his shoulders.

"It isn't my present. Someone else asked me to send it to him."

"Who?"

"It isn't your business young Penguin." came the reply, which made Penguin huff. Nevertheless he kept the book close to the boxes, still open in the front page. He shuffled away a second later, remembering that he left a few more boxes in the lobby and set to seek them out- quickly losing interest in the foreign book.

Drake set his pipe down aside, and stared at the title of the book for a few moments, repeating the familiar word in a quite mutter.

_Don Quixote._


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: **It is rated at M for other reasons beside sex. This contains yaoi slash, and other things which people might find uncomfortable.  
><strong>Pairing: <strong>Base pairing is KiddxLaw

**Late disclaimer: **I do not own one piece.

**Thank you for all the wonderful feedback . I appreciated reading them very much :) **I'm trying to be careful with how I progress with the story, I wanted to develop something between Kidd and Law steadily, they never made a major appeareance which left their character quite open, its fun to explore them.

Hope you enjoy thank you for reading :)

* * *

><p>Kidd slept for what felt like hours after hours. If it wasn't for the newspapers that the doctor brought in every day, he would've lost track of time. The ex-criminal realized after seeing a pile of newspapers stuffed in the corner of the rooms that nearly two weeks have passed since the odd doctor dragged him into this inn to heal.<p>

Law never ceased to express his amazement at the rate in which Eusstass managed to heal, his tissue regeneration was exceptional- bones managed to join together normally again after about three days of constrictive bandaging. The pale man did not complain about the pain, and always had that grim pout on his face that suggested he did not like being cooped up in one place for so long- unlike Law who seemed to enjoy stuffing himself into most unusual of places; sometimes Kidd found the doctor sleeping underneath the bed, other times buried underneath his desk, with books piled up his thighs. Eusstass briefly compared the doctor to a feline.

Trafalgar Law always kept the curtains closed, he complained about the lady who came in to clean every afternoon opening all the curtains, and he had a strong hatred for morning sunlight- which Kidd experimented by opening the curtains early in the morning right into Law's face. It was quite a reaction; the doctor gave a pitiful whiny noise and buried himself into the blankets, rolled off the bed and into the dark corner of the room where he'd glare at the sniggering pale man.

Eusstass paid dearly for that stunt, it was just after he was left spewing balls of blood for a good twenty minutes and raking his fingernails up the wall in pure agony until Law finally fed him the medicine. It was Kidd's turn to glare while the other was chuckling heartily, soon a fight broke out which made the alarmed cleaning lady rush into the room to find Law trying to calm Kidd down with a gun pointed at the other's head, and Kidd with a scalpel pushed against Law's bare neck. The wound on Trafalgar's lips split open again, and he also gained a fresh bruise on his right cheek- Kidd was still snarling.

The doctor, after finally managing to calm the situation down, came to a decision of writing an official contract of service between the two of them.

It was a form of a peculiar mutualism between them, a doctor and a murderer; While Trafalgar Law provided Eusstass Kidd with the medicine he needed to survive, food, and bedding- Kidd provided Law his blood samples, and was given the job of protecting the doctor in his travels; although this was going to be a questionable duty since he already succeeded in attacking Law. Of course, he argued about the fact that he had to carry the doctor's gear for him, but was stamped out due to the fact that the doctor took responsibility for their food and bed.

"You carry a gun with you." Kidd started, eyeing the ebony pistol that was lying on top of some collection of random books- "you get into a lot of fights?"

"Well, considerably since my line of work involves a variety of people some like you." Law answers, head down and concentrating with his needles and a cyan vial. The smell of the Bunsen burner circled around his desk. Kidd sniffed, not wanting to disturb the doctor incase he was working on his medicine.

Sure enough, Trafalgar approached him in a few moments later, holding out a cup of magenta-cyan liquid, sprinkling something black on top of it. Pale hands received the cup, but hesitated for a few seconds.

"Can you do anything to improve the taste?"

"Not your taste I see."

"Well, it's like drinking bitter custard with citrus mixed in fish oil if it helps you imagine the taste." the pale man glanced distastefully at the bright colors in the cup.

"The bitter custard with citrus mixed in fish oil saves your life, Mister Eusstass."

"I'd love to shove this down your throat and see how you like it."

Kidd gulped it down with one swallow, and cringed- he squirmed childishly in the sofa, trying to drain the taste away from his tongue.

Eusstass Kidd had doubts on whether he made the right choice by letting the doctor live. He considered the choice of torturing the other into making the medicine for him, but somehow that unnerving smile on Trafalgar's face assured him that the doctor was immune to torture. As much as Kidd hated to admit, the doctor was talented- not the usual rabble of those who call themselves doctors in the London streets. If the recipe for the medicine was written down, then he could've just killed the doctor and be done with it, carry the recipe to some other doctor and force them to make the medicine- but that was not an option since Trafalgar concocted his remedy by pure memory.

This is why he hated talented people.

"By the way, Mister Eusstass- I forgot to ask you." the voice made Kidd open his eyes again, his body sprawled limp on the sofa. Law was back near his bookshelf, searching for his log again.

"Do you usually go around kissing your unfortunate victims?"

The redhead frowned, his head staring upside down at the doctor, turning the pages of a book held between his hands without looking at Kidd. The pale man gave his charming sneer filled with vice- "enjoyed it did we?" he answered.

"Well, I must be biased on the answer. A kiss is always welcome only if it was on good intentions, and usually much more preferable if it was from a gentle lady. Besides, your kiss hurt." That matter-of-fact voice still had great success agitating Kidd.

"What, was it your first Trafalgar?" joked Eusstass, and only stopped sniggering when Law suddenly looked at him with a bland expression- Kidd blinked.

"Well, thank you for traumatizing my first kiss."

Eusstass Kidd shook his head slowly, waving away the doctor's attempt to make him feel guilty.

* * *

><p>After about three days of consecutive bandaging, Kidd was finally free of them. Most of his wounds have healed; his stitches have recovered remarkably, as well as his bones which were now all back in their own places.<p>

The first thing Trafalgar made the pale man do after taking off his bandages and clothes were kicking him into the bath tub, pouring soap over his flaming red hair.

"_Savon de liquide. _French bathroom magic._"_ Law muttered, as he poured a bottleful of sweet smelling liquid into the water while Kidd was busy complaining about his burning eyes in which the bubbles landed.

Much scrubbing and yelling later, Eusstass Kidd was literally a changed man. His dirty red hair that was crusted with bits of blood, his muddy, torn fingers; his face- a week of good food, medicine, and now a bath had succeeded in making him look like a tidy normal gentleman until he roughed up his hair again, pushing them back out of his face and snarling to Law about putting too much soap in his hair.

"You need to look presentable if you are going to assist me in my travels Mister Eusstass. I can't have you looking like a fugitive beside me, for a number of reasonable reasons." With his legs crossed in an armchair, Law observed as Kidd tugged at his bathroom robes, uncomfortable with the fluffiness. The doctor was surprised to see that the other could look handsome enough when he was actually in a fit state- the first time Law saw the pale man, he looked like a corpse.

Well he was dying to be honest.

Kidd narrowed his eyes at the brown packages that Law threw at him, which he caught with ease since it fell right in the middle of his chest. The packages were quite big, about three or four of them; the last of the packages were a darker shade of brown, and was heavier than the others. Eusstass looked expectantly at the doctor for him to start explaining.

"I had them ordered about four days ago, seeing as I can't have you walking around the streets wearing stripes and a blood soaked coat." Leaving Law to mutter on, Kidd was already un-wrapping the packages, pulling out a pair of neatly folded dress shirts with high collars. It also contained an elegantly simple black waistcoat, an outside frock coat, and trousers. They were all quite starched; the material was smooth and easy on the skin- high class.

In other words, they were expensive clothes.

"Van Halter's designs." Kidd murmured under his breath, in which Law reacted with mild surprise- "You recognize it?" he asked.

"Surprised?"

"Yes."

_It is surprising considering the fact that Van Halter only provides clothing for the upper class nobles. _Trafalgar decided to keep the rest of his intended sentence in silence, not wanting to get curious about Kidd's background.

The darkest package was a pair of black leather boots, and Kidd checked it to thankfully see that it wasn't like the one the doctor wears around- which had a high heel. Eusstass once asked about the other mans choice of footwear, in which Trafalgar answered very casually- '_I like the noises they make when I walk.'_

It was unusual for a man to say that.

"You sure spend a lot dressing up your guinea pig." mocked Kidd, shaking the starch off the clothes with his free left hand.

"I'd prefer to think of you as an assistant." the doctor answers, earning him a low growl from the ex-criminal. Eusstass wasn't used to the notion of assisting other people with what they wanted- usually it was the other way around.

"How did you even know my size anyway?"

It was quite a perfect fit, Eusstass could tell even if he wasn't wearing it. He hears a couple of chuckles before Law reply that it was a lucky guess.

"Do all doctors get paid this much, Trafalgar?"

"It isn't my money."

Eusstass Kidd froze half way into putting his shirt on. He turned his head around to Law, who quickly responded- "Oh, don't worry. I have permission to spend how much I want. Besides, he wouldn't mind- this amount of money is like buying a plate of cream cake from your local bakers."

Well, due to the fact that Kidd knew Van Halter charges about enough money to buy a house for each of his clothing, he began to wander what kind of connections the doctor had with the rich. Trafalgar Law definitely wasn't your ordinary local doctor.

* * *

><p>The clerk made a mistake of attempting an awkward joke about how Kidd was a pile of bleeding flesh when he first arrived into their inn. Law had quite a bothersome time trying to pry Kidd away from attempting to smash the clerk with the account book.<p>

The streets of London was early morning when the two men came out from the building that provided accommodation for them for the past two weeks, and was still that bleary street covered in fog. It was too early for the people to spill onto the streets, only the owners of the shops came out getting ready for another day of business- the sun was still not high and so the surrounding landscape was a gloomy shade of blue and grey just like the doctors eyes.

"Lovely weather." the doctor hums as he looks up at the cloudy sky, putting on his black gloves and straightening his top hat. His black fur coat was clear of blood now, and Kidd assumed he had it cleaned while he ordered the new clothes for himself. The doctor also carried with him a distinct ebony walking stick with a silver hilt- marked with crosses.

Beside the doctor, Kidd stood yawning- tall and pale, almost blending into the background of London if it wasn't for his eye catching flame red hair. He carried the black leather bag with one hand; his other hand was buried in his pants pocket.

"You do have a destiantion don't you?" Eusstass asked without paying much attention, following Law who started moving quietly.

"Usually I move with invitations. Since my services are no longer needed here, I go to my next invited place, which is Oxford. But first, I need to give a little visit to Cambridge. Quite a shame really, I was beginning to enjoy Mayfair." The doctor seemed to know where he was going at least- Eusstass had no other questions to ask after that and he wasn't feeling very talkative because he just took his medication not too long ago. Kidd hoped that Law would improvise on the taste after a few more days of studying his voluntary blood samples.

There was a reason why Trafalgar decided to leave so early in the morning despite the fact that he usually tried very hard to avoid doing anything in the morning; the road was less busy in the early mornings than when the sun rose high up in the sky. They were passing through the third corner of the avenue, where posh looking children were all stiff from their uniforms, packed their sides with books and heading off to presumably their schools.

_Why aren't we just taking a bloody carriage to Kings Cross? _Kidd muttered, avoiding a collision with a man carrying a cart of milk. Much to his dislike, Law managed to come up with the most impossible answer once again- "We're going shopping."

"Shopping." Kidd repeated the doctor's verb.

"Yes." Law answered with an eager tone in his voice. "You never know what could enlighten you in the marketplace Mister Eusstass, doesn't hurt to check. Besides, I've heard Haymarket was a lovely place for a visit."

Kidd would've liked to answer that _yes, _it doesn't hurt to check, but it made him want to inflict pain. The idea of being around people and not being able to lay his hands on any one of them was a crushing defeat to his murder impulse.

"I see how committed you are to your job Trafalgar."

"We're not in much of a hurry; I already got the train tickets booked three days ago. Our train leaves in the evening, which means we'll have plenty of time to look around, and get ourselves some dinner before leaving London."

It seemed that Law had been planning this for a long time, for two weeks the only Law that Kidd has seen was the Law who was buried in blankets, sleeping away the hours when he wasn't operating some place else while leaving Kidd to roll around waiting for his bones to heal.

"By the way Mister Eusstass, are you alright walking in broad daylight like this?" the questioning voice made Kidd snap his eyes away from a dark haired lady who had a pretty neck that he felt compelled to crush- this annoying sadistic impulse that rose from sixteen years of being tormented from that insufferable disease was contaminating his sanity.

"The public tends to forget events that passed a long time ago. I would've been a famous murderer years before, not now." Kidd didn't sound very enthusiastic, for him publicity never mattered. Filling his thirst for others to feel pain outweighed his need to stay incognito, until now of course where he was tied down by a leash carried by the frustratingly mind fucking doctor.

"But you are a fugitive. Wouldn't you be wanted now?"

"I threw myself off a cliff Trafalgar. For all they know, I'm dead."

Their conversation was interrupted by a busy cab rushing by, the bay mare trotting across in front of their path; Kidd reached out a hand and pulled roughly at the scruff of Law's coat backwards to prevent him from getting trampled over. Law moved out of the way just in time, and shot the passing cab an annoyed frown. Kidd stood rather awkwardly, hands still gripping the back of Law's coat like a mother cat holding its kitten.

"Any 'thank you'? A word of appreciation would be encouraging."

"It's your job Mister Eusstass, it's expected of you."

"Oh yeah, that was excellent for my morale."

Kidd let go, eyes rolling sardonically.

"Don't sound offended. It is your job to keep me safe like it is mine to keep you alive even if you feel the need to damage me." The doctor hinted briefly at his injured lips and a bruised cheek. Kidd pretended that he was suffering from temporary deafness.

There was no other dialogue between the two until they reached the entrance of Haymarket, which by now was bustling with people and cabs running around here and there. Law had to admire the colorfulness of the scenery, his admiration for individuality allowed him to look affectionately on the vibrant marketplace. His 'assistant' however, was too busy trying to distract himself from reaching out to the nearest person and grind them against the wall into a miserable heap.

Although Law's medicine allowed Kidd to retain a clearer mind and cause him less pain- like the doctor said, there was no complete cure for his illness. For years Kidd wandered whether if his need to kill was a part of his personality or not, considering that his temper was rather short lined and his violent streak. But being confined in one place with a dozen other of the worlds most psychotic killers did nothing whatsoever to improve his mental stability. It was bad enough with the pain causing him to go insane; his inmates weren't a lot of help either since they were all trying to murder each other until only one was left standing in their cells- the rule of the strongest. Frankly it was like shutting a dozen starved wolves into one little cage and watching them rip at each others throats. In order to live, to survive, Eusstass Kidd chose to submit to his insanity, spending most of his time in the cages decorating the walls with his inmate's innards. It certainly helped him survive, it allowed him to live, and push himself up to the top of the food chain but left quite a scarring side effect- he was now unable to control his desire to kill.

And just now, the paler man glanced at the doctor who was examining a pile of weird smelling lilies and remembered that he did not yet tell him how the disease had effect on mental abnormalities such as an unrestrained impulse to disembowel other people. He wandered for a brief moment if he should tell, but that felt like he was relying on the doctor to look out for him; Kidd shook off the idea and silently followed the other who was trying to haggle with an old man for a couple of jars containing belladonna leaves.

After two weeks of living in the same room with Trafalgar Law, Kidd managed to realize that the doctor was a very eloquent man; he had a charming way of talking to people, making them click to meet his needs. He felt a twinge of amusement as the old man started getting wrapped into Law's colorful speech craft, eventually giving up his belladonna stock for half the original price he was planning to charge. It left Law in a very happy mood and searching for something else to spend his unlimited amount of cash on, and Kidd followed behind, not hiding his cynical little comment: "This is a market place, not a auction house Trafalgar."

"I know Mister Eusstass."

"You'd have enough common sense not to show off your wealth so obviously in local marketplace."

"That I am aware as well."

"You're taking it very well huh." There were movements in the corner of the bustling market people which Kidd caught with a glance, it came from a group who didn't look very friendly- they were turning their beady eyes in their direction, fully aware of their attention catching attire.

"Well, of course it's not like I'm blind to the vultures that follow me around in occasions like this. It's not my first time, dealing with muggers and garrotters." While admiring some pure leather gloves on a stall display, Law gives a quick sideways glance towards the pair of malicious looking men with their hats pulled down their faces.

"But now I have you to worry about that, don't I?"

The dark haired doctor's reason makes Eusstass prove a point by grimacing.

"Your hubris astonishes me. In fact Trafalgar, I wander how a snobbish arrogant noble like you ever ended up becoming a traveling doctor when you could've lead an easier life holed up in your mansion and riches, torturing people to donate their blood."

The bustling noises around them seem to lessen all of a sudden, the colorless grey eyes stared down at the ground for a few seconds, hands letting go of whatever he was examining.

"You're making assumptions."

"There's no other explanation for your wealth." Kidd wanted to kick himself for sounding defensive, but the reaction he got from the doctor was something quite unexpected- his smile was gone.

There was a blank look that occupied Trafalgar's face, as if for the first time he didn't know how to respond. The red haired man could not guess why that was. For the first time without using violence, Kidd succeeded in breaking through the thick mask of smiles, but he didn't feel very content.

"Don't jump to conclusions Mister Eusstass." muttered the doctor, slight bitterness in his voice; "I keep my thoughts out of your peculiar background, you'd do the same for mine."

_Well. _Updated with some new facts about his new companion, the pale man silently followed on without saying anything else that just might break the thin ice. _That was refreshing. _

* * *

><p>It was like following a mother shopping for dresses and shawls. Well it was a metaphorical way of putting it, Kidd never remembered much about his mother due to the fact that his memories were in little torn up pieces in his head, even if it wasn't he was pretty sure he never met his mother. With some effort, Kidd resisted the temptation of throwing the bag in his hands at the pretty little face of the doctor, and instead growled in a low voice that briefly caught Law's attention;<p>

"I am not going to carry anymore."

Indeed, for the first time after many hours of admiring the stalls and buying whatever he fancied, Law realized that he succeeded in making Kidd very grumpy by forcing him to carry all of his shopping- the tall redhead was now holding four bags of pickled amphibian samples, a jar of belladonna, a set of antique renaissance tea set ("Why." Kidd muttered), Assortment of jewelry, brooches, powdered horn of a stag, a miniature jade statue of a tiger and boxes of spices and herbs.

"I think you can carry one more."

"No. Trafalgar. Just... no."

It took Kidd about a decade worth of patience to stamp out his urge to start engaging into battle with the doctor, using the jade tiger as his primary weapon. Law had that rather demoralizing look in his eyes, the end of his eyebrow rising questionably.

"I still need to buy some swine liver."

"No."

"It's one of the ingredients I need to make your medicine."

"Right, to the butchers then. The hell are you waiting for?" The red haired man didn't need to be told otherwise, his stubbornness didn't stand a chance against his need to gulp down that horrible tasting liquid every morning. The doctor chuckles playfully, like he expected that kind of reaction. Kidd watched as his companion started walking to another direction, leading the both of them into a less colorful corner of the market.

"No, the butchers won't have it. People don't think the liver is worth anything, so they usually throw them out at the slaughterhouse." the doctor explained from the corner of his mouth, careful not to disturb the homeless beggars lying around street.

"Explains the taste."

"It could've been worse. The ingredient isn't exactly limited to swine liver." Law made a disturbing smile which made Kidd imagine the most bizarre, the redhead frowned as he made a guess; "It could be any liver? What have you been feeding me?"

"Oh don't worry. It was cow liver until now, but since you complain about the taste, I'll experiment for a bit."

Eusstass rolled his eyes, the heavy items dangling from his either arms.

"I feel so comfortable, leaving my life in your hands." he grumbles, heavy sarcasm dripping through his words.

His expression wasn't very humorous right now, so the doctor decided to keep the last part of his ingredient secret in the dark- _I can also use human liver._

As the two unlikely partners stepped to the back of the market, they saw a darker street joined with the larger one, it was a much gloomier part of the London where buildings were more crowded and stuck to one another, towering over the sunlight and blocking the warmth from coming in. This was the poor district; the floors were covered in grime from the factory ahead, grim looking children were covered in soot. Some were in rags, begging in the intersections where the passers ignored them and quickly strode away. Not wanting to pity them and give up their own money which they needed to survive themselves.

Kidd glanced at the doctor walking next to him, he looked perfectly at ease. Law wasn't lying when he said he wasn't a compassionate doctor, his steel grey eyes did not once glance at the sickly people around him. Eusstass momentarily wondered why, and came to the conclusion that their sickness wasn't as interesting to the doctor as his was. The ex-murderer shrugs to himself, he wasn't planning to hint to the doctor about morality issues, he didn't care either anyway.

Trafalgar did however; pay short attention when he saw a child walking by with a dark expression, shaded with grief, face chalky and sullen. It was a boy too young to have the expression he did; short dark hair grew wildly around the boys face. The child was limping quite badly, and the doctor stopped in his tracks to stare at the young one, the child did not pay attention to him looking and walked on.

"Sudden conscience attacks Trafalgar?" Kidd made a snide remark towards Law's actions, and the doctor responded with a chuckle.

"I don't have any obligations to offer charity."

"Mmm." hummed Kidd, not trying to conceal the skeptical-ness. The redhead didn't give a shit about welfare of others, but it was fun to get at the doctors nerves.

"The boy just reminded me of someone from the past, that's all. This street brings back memories."

The ex-criminal waves away Law's mutterings without much attention, forgetting to look curious about the way how the doctor almost seemed like he have already been here a long time ago.

Without any further conversation, the two carried on into the streets, eventually getting closer to the slaughter house. It was rather close to the apartments, and practically smelled strongly of dead animals- water mixed with animal blood seeped through the pavement and drained on the sewers. The building itself looked quite old, the roof lower than normal shops and the yard fenced with wires. A couple of miserable looking cows and chicken were tied and cooped outside the yard, a red faced porky woman was cutting up bits of cow ribs with a huge butcher knife in her hand.

"We're not the butchers' lad, if you want meat, go somewhere else." The woman yells as the two men approach her shop, not looking up. A blunt noise strikes the wooden cutting board as she slices open the ribs; Kidd looks at the blood seeping across the floor and examines it with fascination. The redhead looks around the yard, there weren't much people except the newest customers who came in besides themselves who just came in- a couple of bulky looking men in bowler hats. He puts down the bag of Trafalgar's shopping down to the side of the table with saws and prongs, and dips his fingers into the animal blood while Law walks up to the lady to ask for what he came for.

The woman wasn't a happy woman. From the look of her, she didn't seem like a very gentle person, and looked suspiciously at Law when the doctor asked her for swine liver. It took time for him to conjure his surgeon's license and coax her with sweet words, and Kidd entertained himself by flicking cow blood at the chickens. The unfortunate flightless birds were tortured by getting small drops of red liquid showering down on them for about a good deal of few minutes until finally Law came back, asking Kidd for his purse.

Eusstass stood up and turned his head around to the work table with the giant saws and prongs lying around, and froze. Law blinked while Kidd approached the table, searching for the missing bags- he whipped around with narrowed eyes and cursed under his breath. The men in the bowler hats were missing, he just realized that he recognized some of them earlier from the Haymarket, shuffling in the crowd and eyeing the doctor's wealth.

Kidd slowly felt his frustration level rise, turning to the doctor and pulling a nasty snarl. His arrogant side insisted that it was the doctor's fault for being so spend-y, but that small voice in his head seemed to whisper something about him being careless. Kidd realized that it wasn't a small voice in his head.

"How could you be so careless Mister Eusstass? You're unbelievable-"Law mutters, understanding the situation before Kidd even admitted that their bags were now clearly stolen. Slight irritation covered the doctor's face, making him frown while putting his hat down and pacing around in quick circles.

"Me? Yeah blame it on me, will ya? Please. We wouldn't be in this mess if you weren't so arrogant about your coins now would we?" This earned Kidd a scowl from the doctor, who jabbed him with his cross patterned walking stick- "Incompetence does not have defensive excuses."

Eusstass responded by flicking cow blood at the doctor. A drop of blood got into Law's eyes, and the doctor cringed, sharply spitting a series of "ow" and "ow"s. The woman was looking at them with mild annoyance, her butchering stopped momentarily to watch two full grown men bicker and pull at each other's hair, pinching and slapping. It was a rather pathetic sight to behold really; it was like watching small girls fight.

However as soon as Kidd grabbed the saw and Law grip the knives it evolved from girls fight to two madmen fight, and the woman had to intervene with her butcher knife flashing wildly in her hands. It left Law panting with a bloody nose and Kidd with a bruise under his eye, his hair wilder.

"You are unbelievable Mister Eusstass." The doctor spat out sharply, wiping the blood off his nose with his sleeves. Mister Eusstass gives off a snarl, throwing the saw in his hand away which lands with a loud clatter.

"Don't call me incompetent." the hissed sentence from the paler male made Law scoff.

"Don't make me say it then."

The two men leers into the others eyes, Kidd's hands were trembling from the close contact with the doctor- memories of how his flesh felt against his own surged up his senses, almost making him dizzy.

Trafalgar breaks the eye contact first, giving away a rather undefined irritated noise as he collects his walking stick and starts heading out of the slaughter house, making Kidd shout after him.

"Oi! Where're you going?" Kidd yelled after the doctor, who answers without looking back- "Look after the remaining bags Mister Eusstass, try not to lose them right under your nose again. I'm going to get my things back."

"You don't even know where they went!"

"I know better than your incompetence."

"Don't call me inco-"

Law wasn't going to stay to listen to Kidd snarl at him again, and he was quick to disappear into the dark streets once again, leaving Kidd with some chickens and cows- and the woman who idly continued sharpening her knives and crunching cow bones on her work bench.

"I recommend you boys to take some professional counseling." The woman murmurs cynically, and Kidd slaps his face with his palm. He was getting a headache.


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: **The usual warning  
>Base pairing is KiddxLaw, sub pairing is DoflaxLaw<br>**Disclaimer: **I do not own OP

**Hello, just wanted to let you know, **I am positively beaming, all the favorites and reviews that people are leaving are making butterflies flutter in my guts. Thank you!  
>I am reading all the feedback that I recieve, and delighted to read them.<br>I hope you enjoy :)

* * *

><p>"I reckon Drake, I could cure this thing."<p>

The ginger haired boy stares at the other, hand stopping in mid air from sketching on his paper. The autumn gloom does nothing to stop the dark haired boy from smiling, and Drake was reminded of the fact that Law never was a fan of sunshine and warm winds. Trafalgar holds up a book from the fireplace he was rolling around nearby, his stomach pressed against the warm rug underneath him. His friend responds by giving a curious glance, not stirring from his armchair.

"You spend too much time on that creepy book Trafalgar. You weren't supposed to take that out of the halls."

Drake recognizes the tattered cover of the book that Law was brooding on for a good few months, all the old medieval illustrations and graphical description of the human body personally freaked the young boy out- apparently it was exactly the opposite for the darker haired boy, who seemed simply enthralled by the book.

"It's just one book. Besides, master approved it."

"Your master is weird."

"He is." Law agrees without a second thought, but his smile does not leave his round face.

"But this is simply magical Drake. Thousands of possibilities of medical evolution! It even says something about medicine that allows a person to not feel any pain- this is purely genius." Something glows in the boys eyes which unsettle Drake, he knew that his friend was quite an oddball and wasn't bothered about it most of the time except when he seemed almost inhuman in moments like this.

"Feeling no pain is a disease Trafalgar. That's abnormal."

"Drake, Drake. You need to be more open to possibilities. Think of it as a means to make life easier for people, much more chance of a successful childbirth for example."

_That doesn't sound so bad. _Drake inwardly reasoned with himself, he indeed heard that most women are knocked unconscious due to the pain during childbirth; it could be nice if they were free of that pain when delivering new life into the earth. But it still seemed like fantasy to him- Drake shook his head slowly, giving away a rather pointless chuckle.

"Our technology ends here Trafalgar; reality is that we've already evolved to climax. You can't change."

"You're no fun Drake." Law pouts, rolling on the rug again- with his back against it this time and peering glassy eyed up on his book.

"I don't get your obsession Trafalgar. Why are you so desperate to create new medical practices? Is the academy of medicine not up to your standards?"

"No... It doesn't have anything to do with the academy." answers the boy, voice quieter than usual. He speaks in a hushed voice, almost like speaking to himself.

"There's a medicine which I need to perfect."

* * *

><p>On normal conditions Law might've been a little easier going towards most events. But the fact that his nearly life-time worth of research was slumbering inside his stolen leather bag unsettled him. It irked him how he was so careless to leave the bag unwatched, and sort of partially blamed Kidd for it even though he was a reasonable man enough to consider that it wasn't entirely his fault. It was easier when you had someone to blame, and so until Law was able to settle his uncomfortable state of mind, he decided to put his frustration out on the thoughts of Mister Eusstass.<p>

The doctor made quick calm steps through the slums, ignoring the putrid smell that came from the sewers and ran through the roads. His standard limit of hygiene was awfully breached, and had no desire to stay as long as necessary. Besides, it was bringing back unwanted memories. After avoiding collision with a couple of urchins who was running away with a pile of apples in their hands, Law took a third turn in the narrow corners of the streets. The factories polluted the skies, allowing no sunlight into the gloomy buildings.

Much as he wanted to deny it, he knew these slums well. Once upon a time, he called it home; now it was just a fading particle of his past. The doctor eyed the dark shaded buildings with a wary gaze, stopping in front of a dirty looking bar with broken windows, decorated with thick black curtains. Law sighed when he realized that his pistol was inside his stolen bag, and inwardly debated whether he should go back and drag Kidd with him. Of course, perhaps it would be a little bit of a disappointing defeat to his pride if he relied on the pale man to take care of the big bad crooks for him. Reasonably pride wouldn't matter if he was pulverized, but he was running short on time anyway- he just remembered his train tickets. Shoving the thoughts of a certain redhead out of his mind, Law pushed the door open and stepped inside.

There was only one bar in the slum district of London, where all the poor and the bad gathered, the Black Maiden. It was lively, in a way which normal people would find intimidating- Trafalgar momentarily had to back away from a table in which a collection of over drunken men suddenly broke into a loud fight, and the people around them gathered to start yelling for their support. The tables were crowded and the stools were flying overhead due to the fighting going on, Law quickly moved under the shaded corners and made his way up to the bar counter where a big bald man was wiping a couple of dirty beer cups.

The doctor glanced around the room, searching for the men in bowler hats until he realized that the bald man was giving him a look, and smiled sweetly.

"Good afternoon."

The man grunts at the doctor's greeting, and answers with a gruff voice- "You're not from the slums."

"Mm," Law wanders; the answer was kind of complicated. "Does it matter?"

"It does, when you're looking around my bar like that."

"Pardon me. I was looking for someone actually. Could I order some gin?"

When someone talks to you with a not-so-friendly leer and low toned voice, it was cue to start being polite and order something to drink. Soon the doctor was now holding a dirty cup of gin in his hands, which he sipped once and remembered that he was allergic to juniper. _Out of all the bloody drinks I could've come up with. _Law coughed out the gin silently when the barman wasn't looking.

The bar was so filled with action it was hard for the doctor to actually see what was going on. It took a lot of time until he managed to lock on to a familiar looking bowler hat, and smiled a bingo to himself when that man disappeared between the crowds holding a bag filled with jarred amphibians. He quietly left the counter away from the gin and the daunting barman, following the man up the stairs leading to the second floor of the bar.

The second floor was crowded as much as the first floor, but was occupied by a group of darker looking figures, Some were bunched up in the tables gambling with a knife stuck to a pile of paper money and jewels. A couple of children and weary looking women were sleeping against the side of the walls- Law quickly stuck himself against the wall when the man in the bowler hat glanced behind. Making sure he wasn't being watched, the bowler hat man walks behind some curtains and lays the bag on the table, where the sight of a black leather bag made the doctor silently clap to himself.

After all these years, the thieves still use the Black Maiden as a rendezvous point- Law was a little surprised at his correct guess.

A number of other men in the same bowler hats gather to greet the late arrival, chattering loudly among with themselves and poking a look in the bags they've stole.

"The purse is filled, what a fish. Hey, what's this Erne?" One of the men picks up the jar of amphibians. "They're frogs you idiot, what happened to the other bags?" comes the answer, and they shrug.

"Too many and too heavy, didn't have time to run off with all of them."

Trafalgar Law had many talents, and one of them was deductive reasoning. Based on the number of the bowler hat men around the bar, engaging into a fight with them would be a very bad idea. Which left him with no choice but to wait until the bags were unguarded; this was easy since the men decided to have a celebratory drink and their attention was off the bags in no time. Thanking the crooks that they had very simple minds, Law stalked against the walls and closer to the table with the bags on them- he nearly walked on a sleeping lady's leg and woke her up. The doctor quickly mutters a silent apology and moves on, careful not to get his walking stick caught up in anything.

It was quite a job, creeping towards the bags without alerting the bowler hats of his presence, but the doctor managed without much fuss and soon had his fingers wrapped around his bags. His black bag was his first priority, he wandered if taking his other bags of earlier shopping spree would be a good idea, but did not have much time to come to a conclusion because a sudden jolt under the table that alerted his attention. A scrawny child ran out, shouting at the bowler hat men- "Cheese sir! Cheese!" -which earned their attention straight away.

Muttering some curses under his breath, Law quickly abandoned his other bags and made a grab for his gun, pointing at the bowler hat men who were soon running towards him, circling the doctor. The sudden outbreak caused the gamblers and the other crooks standing by watching them in interest, and the sleeping people beside the walls started scrambling away yelling in fright. The men snarled, knives flashing in their hands but aware of the ebony pistol, and none moved forwards to charge straight away. The doctor's face was placid, although his inner self was muttering prayers up to whoever was up there that might help his plight.

"Please. Gentlemen, relax."

However, the gentlemen had no plans to relax. One of them piped up with a thick accent- _he's that doctor! _And the others sniggered.

"We're afraid them don't belong to you anymore."

The one with the scarred face tilts his head towards the bags, his knife held playfully between his fingers. The doctor shrugs, and twists a corner of the bag to flash a bit of the inside- in which the crooks stared at it blankly. There was a tag sewed onto the bag, with two neatly written syllables- _Trafalgar Law._

"I wrote my name on it. It does belong to me."

It was an old habit Law developed after being the victim of so much stealing from his fellow students in the academy. For some reason he never knew why, they presumed that they were able to bully him by taking his possessions and stuffing them into the girl's dormitories. It wasn't normally a problem, but it got annoying after a few weeks when Law realized that his diary was stolen as well. He started writing his name onto everything, his clothes, his books, he even tagged Bepo by its tail with his name. When they got stolen, the girls returned it to him after checking who the things belonged to.

The bowler hats stared dumbly at the tag for a few seconds until they each started rambling rude comments at the doctor again, and the scarred one growled. Law assumed that he was the leader- he glanced quickly towards the stairs and analyzed his surroundings.

"Not gettin' away doc, leave the bags and your extra coins here and we'll consider lettin' you go."

There was a nasty pause in his voice, his crooked grin appearing slowly on his face.

"We might even consider being 'nice' to you, seeing how you're quite appealing and all."

"I do apologize, I don't speak garbage. Can't understand a thing you're saying."

Letting out his snide remark, Law shoots the man in his legs, the sound of gunpowder startles the whole bar a soon it was filled with shouting from both the second and first floors. A couple of people were rushing upstairs to see a man writhing on the floor with a bloody leg, Trafalgar made no hesitation and ran forwards, kicking another bowler hat man right between his crotch with surprising elegance.

The doctor ducks a blow that came cutting through the air and towards his head, his second shot misses and Law shouts a brief _shit _as a stool comes flying at him. He managed to miss the first, but wasn't lucky the second time, the stool crash landed hard on his shoulders and Law went tumbling down the ground, pain shooting up his arms. With sheer determination Trafalgar managed to maintain his right hand grip on the bag and his walking stick, his left hand still clutching the gun. The doctor shifts as a foot comes down at where his head was, he rolls away and stands up again, stuffing his gun back into the bag. There was no point holding a gun without aiming to kill when you were fighting in a crowded space.

Law bites his lips and tackles a scared looking bowler hat, ramming himself against the other and tumbling down the stairs together with much screaming from the bar ladies who got caught up. With a aching arm and a reopened split lip for the third fucking time, a pissed Trafalgar Law stood up and kicks the unconscious victim away, he blocks a punch thrown at him with his stick and pulls the handle, revealing a cold steel blade underneath. Without waiting for a surprised exclamation from the puncher, the doctor slashes him away with a skillful slice, clean and accurate.

It was chaos. Those who weren't planning to get caught up in the fight were screaming away and rushing out of the doors, the bald barman was shouting something in French at the men behind the counter, who rushed forwards to presumably stop the bowler hats and the doctor from destroying his bar. Whatever the barman was shouting at him, Law had no time to apologize, he was too busy kicking at his attackers and avoiding nasty blows. He was doing a pretty damn good job until he was knocked back and was sent tumbling into a mean looking thug, who immediately roared and swung the table across- Law ducked and it hit some gamblers who were laughing their heads off until they were smashed to the ground.

Then the mayhem started. Soon the bar was filled with fights, everyone snarling and roaring at each other. Trafalgar did not know who he was fighting anymore, he tried to get out the window but his attempt was blotched when he was kicked squarely in his hips and was sent rolling down the floor again. The doctor coughed out the blood that pooled inside his mouth, his body ached from a number of unpleasant reasons.

_Wonderful day today, really. _The sarcastic comment that rang his head didn't leave until he felt his collar being grabbed up by a red faced bowler hat, holding a knife against his cheeks.

For some weird reason that the doctor did not know why, he felt a sudden pang of sadness as his life flashed before his eyes; white strips of moments of his life passed by his eyes- Him putting leeches into a sleeping Drake's bed, him eating Drake's cookies laid out for Santa, Him blowing up Drake's toy horse, him feeding Drake's goldfish arsenic... _Weren't emotional back rides supposed to be cornier_? Law frowned despite the perilous situation he was in.

The offender gave a nasty sneer and a croaky cry as he was just about to bring his knife down, Law felt time freeze momentarily as the face of his offender in front of him sprayed off a brilliant rainbow of blood, knocked sideways by a powerful blow from a familiar looking statue of a jade tiger.

The doctor blinks thrice, staring at the limp crook in front of him, knocked out by a single blow. Flashy looking leather boots step towards him, violently crushing the body that was in his way; shoes too posh for such a dirty floor.

"You inconsiderate asshole Trafalgar," The familiar voice spits out, clearly not happy. "How dare you just turn your back on me like that when I was speaking eh?"

And there he was, yours truly Eusstass Kidd, pale and vibrant with a jade tiger clutched in his hands dripping with blood. His expression wasn't very merry, and he made it clear that he was in a bad mood by presenting another bone crunching one hit knock out blow to the second unfortunate victim who came running at him with a knife.

"Just in time Mister Eusstass, go wild."

Law was quick to accept that Kidd being in front of him wasn't a fragment of his dying illusion, and stood up again, hiding behind the tall pale man who looked at him with the 'What.' expression. To be honest Kidd had no idea what kind of situation he just stepped into, but all the fighting and the crazy atmosphere was making his spine shudder with excitement. A wild voice inside him started tearing at the barrier, commanding him to grab the nearest guy and disassemble his entrails.

Kidd grabbed the doctor by his wrists and pulled him away from an attacking crook, delivering a quick fast punch that sent the other crashing into a pile of stools behind him. The redhead gave the doctor a frustrated growl; "Trust me Trafalgar; you are not going to like it if I go wild in here."

Law rolls his eyes. "I was metaphorically speaking. Don't kill anyone."

The plan was to get the hell out before the men in blue arrive, using Kidd to literally throw the interfering thugs out of the way, Law aimed to reach for the door and be out of this chaos ASAP. It was hard to do that when you were being attacked from all sides, especially nasty looking men in bowler hats.

It was just about then when Law paled, realizing something important was missing.

"Where's my gun?" he muttered hastily to Kidd, who didn't respond immediately.

Out of the corner of his monochromatic grey eyes, Law caught a dark smile from the second floor terrace, a scar faced man with a bleeding leg pointing a sharp glinted ebony gun aiming somewhere around their direction.

"Mister Eusstass get out of my way!"

"What?"

"Get out!"

Law did not have the time and compassion to explain to Kidd that his flaming red head was in momentary danger of getting shot, the doctor ignored the incredulous look that came from the pale man and made a grab for him- whirling him around just in time before the sound of the second ripping gunpowder being let out raged through the bar.

Once there was a time when the younger doctor asked Drake what it would feel like to get shot. He always thought it would be a mixed sensation of biting down onto your tongue really hard with the pain of having an accidental nail banged into your thumb. Trafalgar realized how naive that thought was- this was pure one hundred percent indescribable agony.

Thinking that this was probably the most stupidest thing he have ever done in his life, Law bit back the excruciating pain that shot up his left shoulder and burned up the area of his arm. From professional knowledge he realized that his shoulder blades were dislocated from the main shoulder frame, hot blood gushed out of the wound- the bullet didn't pierce through his shoulder. The doctor tumbled onto the ground, rolling with his right arm clutching at the shoulders.

Eusstass Kidd stared blankly at the pool of blood that seeped through the dirty floor; it flowed from the doctor's body. Everything suddenly seemed to go red, drained into only one color that blinded his sight. Echoes of the shouting around him died out, hearing nothing, saying nothing. Grotesquely deformed hands grab at his mind, tearing apart the barrier.

A lone sound of something breaking snapped him off.

It all happened in a horrifying blink; the bar suddenly halted as a pale hand seized the nearest head around him and threw it down to the glass cups rolling on the floor, the cups incinerated into sharp edged pieces, driving a scream from the man as they poked through his face. The scream continued with a gut churning crunch as Kidd violently stamped down onto his head repeatedly until the screams were no more than a whimper- then silence.

The atmosphere suddenly chilled, the scarred man on the terrace gave a dark look at the bleeding doctor and the tall red haired man. Something was badly off about the pale ones wide smile.

"Did you see that boss?"

"I bloody well did, we need to get out of here."

Eusstass Kidd did not know who he was attacking. He didn't know whose eyes he was gouging with his talons, whose arms he just broke by twisting them like pretzels, whose neck he just broke by smashing it against the window. He rejoiced in the screams that rang in his ears, his pale hands painted with sweet scarlet. Soon the fighting in the bar wasn't a fight anymore, the crooks started shuffling back, and away from the red haired man and eyeing him like frightened lambs.

The bowler hats running away were stopped with a startled gasp when a cleaver was sent spinning through the air, lodging itself into one of their men's arms with a shuddering noise of bones being crushed. The scarred one was limping, after realizing that he won't make it fast enough to dodge the second cleaver, he turned around and shot for the second time, aimed at the red haired madman.

Kidd dodged the bullet with ease, showing off his impossible reflex to the startled crowd, who started to show signs of panic and some threw themselves out the window. '_Shit!' _The man shouts, firing the last bullet and missing once again. A disturbing grin appears on the others face, whose second cleaver lands on the scarred man's unscathed leg. The man falls onto the ground face first, splashing the floor with his fresh blood that pours from his thighs. In desperation he attempts to crawl away, but stopped short with a scream when Kidd stamps his boot down onto his wounded leg.

The man practically trembles in fear and pain, mumbling something about mercy and god in the face of death. Kidd tilts his head sharply to one side, looking down at the other as if he was a particularly disgusting bug. He bends down to grin wildly at his victim, eyes flashing with scarlet red.

"You fucking degenerate." Kidd croaked, fingers clutching the man's neck with a harsh grip. His victim squirms, face turning purple.

""I'll make you bloody regret ever pulling that trigger."

_Which finger was it? _The pale male asks, gripping the man's rough index finger and pushing it back without hesitation, the bones crunched and twisted backwards- ensuring another pain stricken cry from the owner of the hand. The middle finger and his ring finger landed with the same fate- soon the three fingers on his hand were twisted into various directions like a broken twig.

His victim was half way into passing out, the bar was nearly cleared out as most of the crowds were running in fear for their lives- even the barman was nowhere to be seen. Kidd glared at the scarred man, the end of the ebony pistol pressed right against his head; point blank. Just before he pulled the trigger, a hand with a smooth contrast to his own pale ones shot out and grabbed his arm.

"Mister.. Eusstass! Snap the hell out of it... it's enough." The doctor's voice was shaking, his breath uncoordinated but clear. He fell beside Kidd, his blood spattered hand trying to pry the gun away from the ex-murderers hands. It was unsure whether he was actually listening, Kidd did not respond for a few minutes, eyes still coldly glaring at the tearful scarred crook.

"I said this is enough Mister Eusstass, you've already caused-" Law winced at the pain in his own arms, cold sweat fell down the lines of his chin, mixed with the salty blood that came from the ripped corners of his lips- if this was going to take longer, it was going to be a problem. "Enough problems."

"He shot you, incase you didn't realize."

"I know."

"And you're telling me this is enough?"

There were those times when you find a person that is so different from you that you find it hard to understand them. This was one of those times for both the murderer and the doctor. Law let's out an irritated sigh, quickly glancing at the half-dead man held by his murderous assistant.

"I'm alive Mister Eusstass. Let him go. This isn't worth the trouble."

Eusstass wasn't convinced; he finally turned his gaze around to law, and snarled at him darkly, challenging the doctor to say otherwise.

"Let him go? He fucking tried to kill you Trafalgar. He shot you. And now look!"

Words weren't enough to emphasize Kidd's anger which he himself did not know where it came from. Eusstass reached out and pushed his thumb up against the bullet wound, causing Law to snap back at him with a sharp hiss.

"I think you're too stupid to be aware of this Trafalgar, but I need you if I'm going to live. That mean's 'I'm alive' isn't damn good enough, I need you to stay perfect, unscathed, unharmed. Having a go at your life is like having a go at mine, shooting you is like shooting me. Killing you means killing me."

The mad glint in his ruby eyes dared Trafalgar to rebut, the doctor bit his lips.

"I am alive Mister Eusstass."

"And that's not good enough."

"No, look at me."

The wounded male calmly wrapped his hands on either side of Kidd's cheeks, smearing his face with his own pulsing blood. The warmth seeped through his senses, silencing Kidd. Their eyes meet, faces close to each other, feeling every change of emotion.

"I am alive. I am here if you need me."

The tiny pieces of his jagged up memories and thoughts suddenly disappeared, time stopped around the steel grey irises of the doctor in front of him.

_I am here, next to you, breathing, looking at you. _

Madness fades away, leaving the scraps of his barrier to reconstruct, slowly Kidd blinked, taking in Law's face, his eyes, his expression, his voice.

The murderer lets go of the gun held in his hand, and instead pulls the doctor closer, lips overlapping the blood soaked other in a biting kiss. The doctor accepts, allowing the salty blood to wash off into the other's tongue, pushing into his mouth; determined to make sure he was alive.

_My heart beats, only when your heart is beating alongside mine._


	5. Chapter 5

**Warning: **The usual warning  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I dont own OP

**Thank you for reviews, favorites, and the typo alerts- **I've fixed a few with some help from the kind reviewers who pointed it out. :)  
>The term 'Ersatz' refers to something that substitue one thing which is usually inferior to the original. How it relates to this fic sort of depends on how the reader interprets it, so I'll leave it meaningless for the time being. I appreciate all the feedback, it's great fun reading them, you guys are too kind!<br>This chapter became somewhat a spinoff, but I do really have a plot in mind.

The next chapter update will be considerably late, as my internal exams start next week. Thank you for all the readers, cheers!

* * *

><p>Tony-Tony Chopper faced many dilemmas in his life. Most of his problems came from the fact that he was very small for his age, the reason for many of his misfortunes in life. To start with, he was still in his teen years with big round deer-like eyes and curly soft brown hair that fluffed around his face. With a rather bluish tint around his nose, he was usually a very quiet and a cautious youth.<p>

The special thing about Chopper besides his peculiar name was that he was a brilliant learner of medicine. The youth was not a genius, far from that actually; but possessed the greatest try-hard determination ever, easily exceeding his pairs in both skill and knowledge as a doctor. Apprenticed by the infamous doctor Kureha herself, he was admitted into the royal academy of medicine by sheer resolve and skill. Because of his light heartedness and a rather likeable personality, his brilliance was accepted easily and was generally on good terms with nearly everything around him. However, there was only one person who he could not exceed, neither get along with- Trafalgar Law.

Chopper remembers the first time he met Trafalgar Law, a slender senior boy with short uncombed black hair, pair of steel grey irises that concentrated on nothing. The young Law was always alone except in the summer holidays when a lanky ginger haired boy who most people knew as Drake came to stay with him. Chopper heard many things about the other ebony haired boy, whom the tutors always sang about him being the greatest medical genius ever. His fellow pupils seemed to think differently though, Law was always much feared and hated by his peers for some reason that was quiet unclear to Chopper.

The main reason for the dislike was because Law was brilliant and he never tried to hide it, often to the point in which his fellow students deemed him as the most obnoxious and arrogant asshole ever to exist in the face of earth. Trafalgar never cared for another's feelings; his madness that he called curiosity often freaked people out. He was a prodigy who ignored how to be modest, and his personality was far too complicated to please. His classmates often found themselves wandering how in the world Drake was able to get along with the eccentric youth, seeing as how Drake was a sensible young boy who knew how to think carefully and be considerate of others, the complete opposite of Trafalgar Law.

But Chopper never had any direct problems with the notorious student since he did not have any affiliations with him until the day he witnessed the young Trafalgar alone in the practical rooms, apparently stitching up a set of mice together by their small intestines.

The mice were the property of the academy, and existed for the purpose of antidote testing, and were never subjected to such matters like dissection or physical experiments. To Chopper who was a great lover of animals, this act mortified him and immediately demanded to Law that what he was doing was nastily abnormal, to which Law calmly retorted with a brilliant grim smile, '_Would you like to volunteer instead of them?' _

Chopper was never quite able to shake off that little part of him that feared Trafalgar Law from that day onwards. That person was different, too different. While Chopper himself wasn't a perfect doctor, his determination to succeed and make his foster father proud allowed him to become the kind of doctor that tried his best for the welfare of his patients and to allow new life to those who nearly lost them. For Trafalgar Law however, it was completely the other way around. He was seemingly born with the brilliance, a pure prodigy who saw his patients as toys. Something he could tweak with, something he could distort with, something he could always dispose or save if they were interesting or not enough for him.

Chopper would've avoided any future collision with the other doctor if only not for Luffy, Lord Dragon's son, and his close friend; taking interest in him. Because of his momentary absence in Germany, the job of healing Luffy when he was rather critically injured from a nasty accident fell on none other then Trafalgar Law, who surprisingly enough agreed to offer his services with an amount of enthusiasm that Chopper deemed almost dangerous. Nevertheless Luffy recovered, but Law disappeared shortly after, not heard from again for a whole year.

It was fair to say that Chopper received quite a shock when his greatest nightmare from his academic youth reappeared in London again after a year, in front of his doorstep, accompanied by two or three policemen and with a bullet stuck in his shoulder.

* * *

><p>"I have finally experienced a gunshot wound. And successfully deducted that the abnormal frequency of pain that vibrates around my scapula is caused by a tissue disturbance not from the bullet, but from the shock I received when I was shot."<p>

Chopper did not know whether he should laugh or frown at the dark haired man's insightful hypothesis, sweat running down his brow from the effort of trying to pull the bullet out of the blood crusted shoulder in front of him. If Law was feeling any pain, then he was doing a remarkable job at not showing it, his eyes merely twinkled at his new discovered pain of getting shot.

The two were sitting in Chopper's little office room, where the smaller doctor never got around to cleaning it properly and was flowing with needles and bandages rolling around on the desks and piles of books on anatomy. The policemen who came in with Law just stood by the door, doing nothing in particular and reading some articles left out by the sofa in the waiting room. While Law was analyzing how mentally observed pain can effect physical agony, Chopper finally pulled out a metallic bullet piece held between his prongs, gouged from the other doctor's shoulder flesh.

A sickening squelch echoed in the room, and the policemen suddenly showed a great amount of interest in the dancing mackerel doll by the fireplace. The gory picture of Law's bloodied shoulder didn't look very pleasant, and Chopper grimaced.

"It's going to take a while to heal. It didn't break any bones, but it might scar- I'm not particularly sure."

Trafalgar did not say anything else while Chopper wiped his wound clean with alcohol; he merely stared at the wall, poking the tips of his ripped lips with the edge of his tongue.

"What happened to you?" With his ebony eyes slightly hiding suspicions, Chopper asked- expecting a rather direct answer.

"Oh, I was busy getting strangled a bit here and there, punched, kicked, viciously throttled and getting shot at. Quite the usual routine." Law muses, jumping slightly when Chopper presses the needle against his flesh, ready to stitch the skin back to heal. His fingers weren't long and delicate like Law, but were firm and warmer- working carefully as he stitched the wound up. As much as Chopper feared the other doctor for his twisted curiosity and talent, his job as a doctor allowed him to tend to his wounds with passion. Soon the wound closed, and cleaned up to be bandaged well and firm.

Law recovers his coat, buttoning up the garment right up his neck.

"Been in London long?" he asks, putting his gloves back on after wiping them with a watered towel.

"Not that long, just stopping by. I'm returning to Luxemburg to join Luffy next week."

The slender doctor makes no additional remark, pulling on his sleeves and turning to the smaller doctor with his usual smile.

"Well," he starts, giving his gloved hands a slight twirl, "Thank you for your help. I feel much more comfortable leaving myself to someone capable." As a doctor, a wash of pride ran over Chopper, making him blush madly and coil his arms. Without much merit he attempts to stop himself from smiling by muttering out a series of insulting comments.

"I'll take my leave now; I need to retrieve my assistant before he takes over the Scotland Yard."

* * *

><p>Trafalgar Law was never quite worried about the welfare of others, and certainly didn't once stop to think that Kidd will have a problem in jail. Then it came to him that it wasn't Kidd he was supposed to be worried about.<p>

Sure enough, the guards were rather jumpier than usual, the doctor approached only to find them with grim expressions painted on their faces and avoiding getting inside the Yard where the wired metallic gate contained local crooks who committed minor crimes. The officer who was guiding Law inside led him into the gates, loosening the entrance for him to step inside the cold muddy grounds.

"About time."

The grumpy voice broke the silence when the doctor came in, who didn't seem much bothered about the beady eyes of the thugs and street harassers that landed on him. Trafalgar crossed his arms, shifting his weight to give a critical frown at the pale red haired man, who was receiving a shoulder massage from a bunch of mean looking women and crooked thugs guarding his sides. Kidd seemed perfectly at peace, whether that was because anything close to prison was in his forte, or just his uncanny confidence at being the dominating figure Law did not know, but now the doctor was sure that his worry for his assistant was quite unnecessary.

The raven haired doctor walks up to the paler man, whose face seemed quite bored; one burly looking man beside Kidd who handed him a pipe growled at Law when he came closer until Eusstass waved him away. _Eusstass Kidd, King of the Yard. _The doctor kept that particular thought from coming out of his lips, preferring not to start anything when he was low on energy.

"You seem to be doing well here." the sarcastic little sentence made the pale man scowl; Kidd glanced momentarily at his companions shoulder. Trafalgar did not wait to hear Kidd's answer, and instead mused on- dragging the pale man up by his sleeves. Kidd followed without much question but the women seemed reluctant to let him go.

"It's a damn miracle that no one died Mister Eusstass."

Kidd huffed. "I don't care."

"You should. We need to have a little heart to heart conversation about your aggression issues."

Kidd did not say much, he was feeling quite tired after all the action and drama that took place all in the same day. His head was still in disarray, he didn't know what that little screechy noise that rang inside his mind was, and he was still making sure Trafalgar Law was alive beside him.

The pale man was also curious about himself as to why he obsessed with the doctor so much. Sure, he holds the means to keep him alive- but something else, something else was making him allow Law to touch into his mind, refusing to let him go. It was all so frustratingly curious. When he looked at the doctor's face, something stirs his mind. It agitated him that he couldn't remember, couldn't know what it was, and it just makes it that much more complicating regarding his feelings towards the being called Trafalgar Law.

Then he remembers the kiss. _Why did I do that? _It was a question that went unanswered but lingered in Kidd's mind for quite a while, and the longer he asked himself, the more anonymous the answer got. To normal people, a kiss would've been a gesture of love, but love was a strange word to Kidd. For Eusstass Kidd, the kiss was closer to a rather primitive animalistic form of marking his property.

With a lot of thoughts clouding Kidd's mind, he didn't put much protest of being dragged out of the Yard by his sleeve, although his mind finally snapped back into his usual grumpiness as soon as they were outside and back on the darkening streets because of the doctor carelessly flinging his black leather bag at the pale ex-murderer. The bag seemed considerably heavier than usual because of the new addition of belladonna and swine liver, and Eusstass wasn't able to throw a snide comment when he remembered that Law's shoulders were injured.

"Be thankful that I have friends in high places. If it wasn't for my client, your bail would never have been granted. Seeing as you maimed at least a dozen men single handedly." The hint of annoyance in the doctor's voice made Kidd sniff with disinterest, he was thinking of breaking out if his bail really wasn't granted. Back in the bar, the bald barman showed up right in the middle of their little scene with a dozen peelers rushing in behind them, only to find the horrifying scenery of groaning and whimpering piles of crushed and crippled bodies- masterpiece of Eusstass Kidd.

He was planning to ignore it, but something about the tone of how Law said it ticked Kidd off, his mouth moving faster than his rational thoughts;

"If it wasn't for your stupid shopping spree, this would never have happened, and your goddamn shoulders would've been peaceful." The gruff statement was accompanied by Kidd's glare. Law turned around to face Kidd, eyeing the paler man. The doctor already knew that this was going to end up being a pointless waste of energy and vigor, but he couldn't help countering due to his prideful nature.

"If you didn't lose the bags Mister Eusstass, we could've avoided this even if I expressed my freedom to spend my money."

"Well here's a fact Trafalgar, it wasn't my fucking fault. Stop bitching about it because you're equally responsible for today's little drama!"

Law did not even know why he was feeling so offended.

"Oh, I'm bitching now am I? Great! I'll bitch some more while I'm at it- the damage you caused in the bar costs half a fortune Mister Eusstass-"

"This and that has no relevance whatsoever Trafalgar-"

"Can't this end with a minor apology?"

"If someone needs to apologize, it's you!"

"Urgh! You are being an unbelievable pig head!"

"Look whose talking jackass!"

"Substandard block head!"

"Insufferable reprobate!"

"Jerk!"

"Moron!"

Obviously this was going to go in the _oh-my-god-sweet-mother-Mary _route where the two of them ends up shouting childish insults at each other all evening. One unusual thing they had in common was the fact their pride allowed no reason for them to lose or back down from a challenge- what started as a mere ramble and a sentence of unhappiness have soon landed them in another series of a pathetic pinching war between them which made passers by give them a stare before backing away from the two unusual pair.

They forgot that they were fighting in front of the station, and the officer on duty had to blow his whistle to calm both men from snarling at each other's face. Kidd roughly let go of Law's collar, and mutters something under his breath which the doctor chose to ignore. The streetlamps were being lighted; evening was coming with a curtain of darkness that slowly falls on the crowded streets of London. Being in no mood for a conversation, Kidd follows Law with silence until his curiosity got the better of him; "Where are we going?"

Trafalgar considered ignoring the question just to spite the other man, but casually gave his answer: "King's Cross. Where else?"

"Well we've already missed the train Trafalgar."

"With the courtesy of Lord Bartholomew," Trafalgar dug his fingers into his coat pockets, pulling out two thin pieces of paper stamped with ink, "I was able to acquire the tickets for the next train. We have much to thank him for; he granted your bail as well."

Kidd snorted, but did not make another comment that might send the doctor's smart mouth opening again. It was clear that the two of them will have a lot of problems getting along with each other, and suddenly Kidd remembered a little suggestion that he couldn't remember where he heard it from:

"We need counseling you and I."

"Clearly, you need an anger management session Mister Eusstass. I'm perfectly okay."

"No, that's what you can go on telling your disillusioned and fucked up mind doctor, all your life. The fact is, you're as bad as me."

Law gave him a questionable stare, but seemed interested rather than annoyed. _How can you tell? _His eyes gave away his question, and Eusstass gave a grim chuckle.

"The reason you keep me from killing people, it's not because you care about their lives- I can see that much."

The colorless grey eyes blink a few times, his expression lost beyond his thoughts. The red haired man wasn't all muscles; he was much more insightful than what Law imagined. Nevertheless, being the greatest hider of faces he was, Trafalgar refuses to give Kidd the credit of seeing through a particle of his true nature and gives him a sweet smile that radiated with false kindness.

"I don't know what you're talking about Mister Eusstass. I'm the kindest doctor that ever exists. You're the proof of that."

Kidd couldn't determine whether if Law was being sarcastic, or if the doctor was trying to make himself believe what he was saying. Either way, the paler man decided that he wasn't going to take that shit seriously.

* * *

><p>The evening train ride was going to be moderately crowded, and Kidd momentarily had to worry about being around a mass of people again. Thankfully, Trafalgar Law was a loaded man who even after spending what he called 'half a fortune' on reparations for the damage Kidd caused, managed to get the first class compartment on a train that went on a direct route to Cambridge. Kidd wandered where all that cash came from, but decided not to dwell too deeply into personal details about the doctor.<p>

The first class compartments were nearly empty except for an old looking gentleman who was sleeping in the corner, a plate of pudding in front of him. The tall redhead stuffed the bags onto the deck overhead before joining the doctor inside their compartment- it was cozy enough with their velvet seating and a low table in between. Kidd felt uncomfortable in narrow spaces, but was used to machinery which allowed him to cope with the narrowness. Law on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease- to be honest; Kidd couldn't possibly know what actually unsettled the unconventional doctor.

Trafalgar took off his coat and laid it beside him, straightening his waistcoat. The carriage lady poked in to ask anything they needed, and Law politely requested some dinner. Because of their little adventure, he forgot that he hasn't eaten anything for the whole day, and the doctor was starting to feel a little hungry. Kidd was feeling tired, crossing his arms and lying back in his seat, ruby eyes glinting at the blurred scenery outside the window.  
>"Now, Mister Eusstass," Trafalgar started, his chin rested on his crossed fingers. Kidd moved his pupils to the doctor's face, meeting his stare. "You haven't been completely honest with me."<p>

"Same goes to you too doesn't it?"

"Not personal matters, I meant your little mental disturbance."

Law wasn't smiling; his face was mixed with something between curiosity and deep thought. Kidd kept his mouth closed, leaving the silence to linger between them for a good few minutes until Law spoke up again.

"If I'm going to be able to make the medicine actually cure you, I need the information Mister Eusstass."

"You do that."

Law sighed. The carriage lady came back, her tray filled with plates of food and drink. With only the sound of small 'thank you' and the cutlery clattering, the carriage lady left the silent compartment leaving Law to dig into his pasta. Kidd took a bite off his steak. Both of them went eating without talking to each other for what felt like an eternity, Kidd was surprised how much Law could actually eat. The slender doctor didn't seem like the type to glutton himself.

"Okay, seeing as just asking isn't going to work out, we'll take a different approach."

What Law said made Kidd stop eating and stare at the other, his head cocking to one side. The doctor was grinning- "It's simple enough deal, you tell me what I want to know, and I'll tell you what you want me to answer."

Eusstass considered the deal, biting down on his fork. Law was serious about this; the usual playfulness in his smile wasn't present. The paler man just nodded, purely because he had some questions that wanted answered as well. The doctor started with an expected question; "Your disease." Law made it clear enough for Kidd to understand, who reluctantly started with a sigh.

"I don't know how much you know about my disease Trafalgar, but it comes with some pretty annoying features like amnesia and attention deficiency disorder."

"No. It usually doesn't."

Kidd narrowed his eyes, looking at the doctor who seemed to be lost in his thoughts, his eyes glassy.

"Your disease is different to what I expected."

"Then how come the medicine worked on me?"

Law bit his lips- something was wrong with his calculations.

"The medicine works differently on you, it wasn't designed for you. Mister Eusstass, elaborate on the amnesia part."

"Do I need to explain what amnesia is?"

"Being cynical won't land you in anything good, you know."

Kidd rolled his eyes, taking a bite off his sandwich and choosing his words carefully. The last thing he needed was revealing anything over informative about himself to the doctor.

"Just as I said, I can't remember things."

"How much do you remember?"

"I remember being in prison with a lot of happy merry men, inside a ship, lot's of pretty corpses and..."

Kidd stopped; forcing his mind to remember things was a bad idea. Things started popping inside his head, flooding his thoughts and memories with thousands of scenes and voices that echoed within the walls of his mind.

Then he remembered something unusual, something he couldn't quite remember for a long time no matter how hard he tried. It was a mansion with big dark walls, where no trees grew- black curtains that covered all the windows. _And then there was... a person... _

Kidd snapped off, sharply muttering out a forced "That's all I remember." to further confuse the doctor staring at him. Something about his expression told Law that he shouldn't press for more information. Instead he went on, pretending that little fit never happened.

"You go into something like a trance when you get angry or upset Mister Eusstass. Back in the bar, I called your name quite a few times but you didn't answer."

"Don't have an explanation for that I'm afraid. You'll just have to make sure I'm in a good mood."

Law frowned to replace his reply. It didn't stop Kidd from moving on with his turn to ask his question though.

"You don't kill, and yet you're more of a murderer than I am in aspects Trafalgar Law. Why did you stop me from killing him?"

The doctor plays around with his food, swirling his spaghetti with his fork before giving an apologetic smile. True, Law did not consider himself the kind and caring type, he was far from that actually. Years of his feedback from Drake and the way people treated him, it was clear to Law that he wasn't exactly a person that made a pleasant company.

"Mister Eusstass. I'm a licensed doctor who has permission to apply my medical knowledge both abroad and within England. It gives me privileges to access different places with authority. If you cause any problems under my employment-" Kidd grunted briefly to show his dislike at Law's choice of words; but held his interruption "- I can't risk losing my privilege for something like that."

"In easier words, you're just saving your own ass."

"Typically speaking yes, because I care about myself... that and also because in a way, I'm still a doctor- even though I'll approve of using people for the better good, I will not kill."

It was clear that Law wasn't going to go into further detail with his own morals, and Kidd decided that the answer he got was good enough. The air was getting chillier, darkness fell outside, and only the blurs of the trees were visible from the window. It was almost psychedelic, the rhythmical noise of the train, and its soft shaking...

And the noise of the doctor scribbling things in his notes- it looked like notes, the handwriting was far to messy to be a letter... or was it a letter?- Kidd observed him write with mild interest, his eye lids dropping heavily due to being mentally and physically tired. Trafalgar Law had delicate looking hands, his softly tanned fingers and wrists slender with tender skin, marked with tattoos that seemed unusual for a doctor.

It spelled a familiar word, the first time Kidd saw the doctor- he knew he recognized the letters in his fingers. It spelled death.

_The surgeon of death. _Kidd thought, chuckling at the ironic title. _I'm depending on the surgeon of death to keep me alive..._

His eyes closed without his permission, and soon he was engulfed in the comforting darkness.

* * *

><p>Law stopped scribbling his letter, and noticed how unusually quiet everything suddenly seemed to be. He glanced up to find the red haired man sleeping, his shoulders leaning against the wall, arms still crossed in his usual manner.<p>

It was funny thinking how he was able to cope so easily with the violent ex-criminal; despite the fact that they weren't doing a great job at getting along, Law felt a twinge of affection for the other for some unknown reason why. As long as he can remember, Law never cared for his patients, and never understood the connection between a doctor and his client. Being responsible for someone's life... he despised that idea more than anything.

He didn't become a doctor to save lives, for the good of the world. No, that wasn't a reason. For now, he could lie to himself all he wanted and insist to himself that what he did wasn't run away.

Law sighed, massaging his temples. Kidd shifted in his sleep, and the doctor glanced at him for a while until he bent across the table, covering the paler man with his furred coat. Law blinked, staring right in front of his companion's sleeping face, an unreadable expression masking his cold blunt grey eyes.


End file.
